The Vodka Night
by overworkedandunderpaid
Summary: All Human. When you can't remember why you're laughing, you've had way to much to drink. Rose/Dimitri, Lissa/Christian. COMPLETE.
1. Swiss Cheese I

**Hey all,**

**Okay, this is my first ever remotely serious fanfiction. Characters, as said, are all human and most characters from VA should be starring but I might miss someone. Yes. This is eventually going to be a romance but right now I'm having a lot of fun thinking of embarrassing things to do to Rose and Lissa. Yay! I tend to get a little off track with my stories but I digress, the beginning is here!**

**Chapter 1 – Swiss Cheese I**

There was something elusive about that night. I knew there was something I should be remembering but after about fifty vodka shots the haze over my brain was too thick for me to remember anything. I didn't know why my best friend and I had left Montana at the speed of light. All I knew was that at the time it was incredibly funny…

We had packed fast… and drunkenly… and then driven to South Dakota. Pierre, to be exact. I guess my mobile is a lot like my memory. Gone. Now Lissa and I are hanging out in the capital of South Dakota with no real idea why, just a foreboding feeling that if we go back, we're going to be in trouble. And hysterics. I'm sure that one day I'll remember exactly why it was so funny but for now, my memory is Swiss Cheese.

I know there's a good reason we left Montana in that night… I just know it… But I can't remember.

Damn vodka. Damn it to Hell.

**Review: It's the button in the centre of the page.**


	2. Names and Neighbours

**Joy to the world the next chapter is already up! I figured I'd give you guys a little more to go on than just the first chapter because that doesn't really tell you jack about anything so here is chapter 2:**

**Chapter 2 – Names and Neighbours**

"No. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no."

"But it's lonely Rose!" Lissa lifted the kitten from the wet box. "It's got no friends!"

"We are _not_ getting a kitten Lissa!" I insisted. I looked the mangy animal up and down. "It's probably infected with something! Put it down!"

Lissa, of course, contrarily rubbed the furry creature against her cheek. "It's fine Rose. Please? I've always wanted a kitten," she pouted at me.

"You've always wanted a hamster, a puppy, a horse, a hermit crab, a parrot, a mouse, a rabbit and an angel fish as well! Do you want to get all of those while we're at it?" I ticked off the list on my fingers as I fumed.

"You can have the cat for free," the owner offered. "It's a girl," he directed the last part at Lissa. We were standing on the streets of Pierre, it was drizzling and there was a shifty man in ragged clothing trying to sell a wet tabby kitten on the side of the road. Nothing else in the world screamed legitimate like this.

"We're not taking the cat!" I huffed, crossing my arms across my chest. "Lissa, put the thing back in the box."

"Please, Rose? Please, please, please? We could get another kitten for her," she begged.

"Yeah, we'll start a zoo!" I threw my hands up in the air. "Lissa, we can't have a pet! Animals hate me anyway," I grumbled. I pointed at the scraggly thing. "Just take a second and look at it," I said calmly. Screaming never got through to Lissa. I didn't hold high hopes for begging either. "It's probably got heaps of diseases, we're probably not allowed pets in our apartment…" I trailed off, running out of excuses. "There are all sorts of things to consider!"

Lissa turned the kitten around to face me and thrust it in my face. "Look into her eyes Rose and tell me we can't give her a home," she used her broken hearted voice and I grudgingly looked at the small animal.

It watched me with big, green, sombre eyes.

"What are you looking at?" I demanded gruffly.

And then, the unimaginable happened. It damn well started purring.

"No. I don't like you," I poked its small pink nose. "She wants you. Purr at her," I pointed at Lissa.

"She loves you Rose!" Lissa squealed, hugging the kitten to her chest.

"Love's a little strong I think," I muttered. "We're not taking it," I glared at the shabby man standing beside the box.

"Rose! I'll take care of her!" the desperation in Lissa's voice caught me.

I sighed. "Why do even want a kitten Liss? Because it's here," I gestured around us. "There are a thousand cats around here that need a home. They aren't getting one. Why do you have to have this one?"

"Because I can help this one," she said adamantly. "I love her Rose," she looked at me with wide eyes, pathetically holding my gaze. I would have said that she couldn't love it yet but I knew Lissa could. Lissa could fall in love with any animal the moment it looked at her.

I stood there, in the drizzle and debated. "Oh fine," Lissa squealed with delight and hugged the kitten tighter. "But! There's a but!" Lissa quietened down, her expression serious. "It stays away from me," I told her, pointing at it.

"She," Lissa corrected. "She stays away from you. Okay!" Lissa beamed and turned and thanked the seedy little man. He shook his head and told her it was nothing until Lissa leaned down and kissed his cheek. Honestly.

"Yeah, thanks," I called out to the stunned looking man as I dragged Lissa away.

"What should we name her Rose?" Lissa asked as we sloshed down the streets. The light rain had kept up all day and puddles had formed by the side of the road.

"I don't care," I bowed my head as a car passed and sprayed us with water, oil and whatever other things happened to be floating in that particular puddle. "You name it."

"Her," Lissa corrected sternly. She shook her blonde hair out of her face and pulled up the hood of her black rain jacket. She looked down at the kitten in her arms. Despite the rain it seemed quite content.

I smiled to myself and shook my head in amusement. Lissa wouldn't be able to name this cat for hours yet. Possibly even days. She always thought whatever name she came up with it wasn't good enough. Unavoidably, I would be the one to finally give it a name.

We sloshed onward, heading for our apartment block. We were living in a pretty nice place. The building itself was had six floors, underground parking, a gym, a pool and – awesomely – every apartment had a balcony. We were on the sixth floor with a cool view of… well, the road but we were still really high up. I was hoping that Lissa would be able to charm the kitten's way in 'cause I didn't know if we were allowed pets and I didn't know what to do with it if it wasn't allowed in.

"What about… Fuzzy?" Lissa suggested. I snorted.

"You want to call it – sorry, 'her' – Fuzzy?"

"Yeah," Lissa sighed morosely. "It is a pretty bad name, isn't it?"

"Sorry but yeah, it is pretty bad," I grinned in relief when our building came into view. "We're almost home," I muttered. We'd only been living in this apartment for two days but it already felt like home. I'd never really felt like I'd left Montana until we had this apartment.

Lissa quickened her pace beside me, wanting as much as I did to get under cover. The kitten mewed in her arms and Lissa stopped with a gasp.

"Did you hear that Rose?" Lissa asked excitedly. "She meowed!"

I rolled my eyes. "That's great Liss," I grabbed her arm and began to drag her the rest of the way to the building. "I'll buy to a baby book tomorrow so you can keep track of each new development."

Lissa was still making baby noises at the poor kitten when I pulled her into the warm, dry lobby and into the elevator.

"Give it a rest, Liss," I sighed. I pushed back the hood of my raincoat and pulled out my long brown hair, running my fingers through it to get rid of knots. The parts that were wet had darkened to black but the rest of my hair was – thankfully – dry and the normal shade of dark brown.

"But she's so cute," Lissa lifted the orange cat up to the elevator light. It didn't look cute to me, but it sure looked dirty. The kitten looked around from it's place in the air and it's green eyes fixed unwaveringly on me.

"What?" I demanded.

"She wants you to hold her Rose!" Lissa explained. Before I could protest the little bundle was in my arms.

"I don't want to touch it Liss!" I complained, pushing it back at her.

"Just hold the cat Rose," Lissa said in her no-nonsense voice. I sighed and left the orange fluff ball in my arms.

The elevator reached the sixth floor and Lissa and I stepped out. She was smiling as she ran to our door and I was watching the cat in my arms warily. It had started purring and it was watching me with half closed eyes.

"No claws or teeth, okay," I told it as I stepped into the apartment. Lissa flicked on the lights and walked around the kitchen counter that was to our right. I walked straight ahead, down the two carpeted steps and into the lounge room.

"She'll need a bath Rose," Lissa called to me.

"You want me to wash it?!" I exclaimed. There was no way I was putting this cat in a tub of water.

"Just wash it in the bathroom sink," she suggested, shrugging.

I groaned and walked across the lounge room and into the hallway. There was a bedroom to the right and another bedroom and a bathroom to my left. Right in front of me was our 'laundry' room. I stepped into the cramped space and turned to the large sink.

I pushed the plug into place and turned on the water. When the sink was about half full I lifted the kitten and looked straight into it's green eyes.

"Okay. This is where those rules come in. Claw me and you'll be kitten kebab," I told it sternly. I took a deep breath and then lowered the tiny orange creature into the warm water. Thankfully, there wasn't a struggle.

The kitten seemed perfectly happy to be in the water and it flipped itself this way and that as I rubbed it over with a small cloth.

"You're much better than Harry," I told it. Harry was my mother's cat. He was vicious and cruel and purposely waited behind doors for visitors – like me – so he could scratch the hell out of my legs.

The kitten had started purring again as I washed it and I found myself smiling at it.

"You're funny aren't you? I thought cat's hated water," I know Harry did. I used to use water pistols to wash him. Of course, I wasn't supposed to be washing him but it was a good excuse for revenge.

I pulled the kitten out of the water and dried it, rubbing it down with a nearby towel. It sat down eventually and started purring again, it's eyes half closed in pleasure.

"Don't get to attached," I warned it as I walked back into the lounge. "I don't like you. One claw over the line and you're out on your furry little ass."

"Don't be so mean to her," Lissa swooped down and rescued the kitten, holding it in the air again and starting up her baby talk. I rolled my eyes and I was about to throw myself down in front of the plasma screen T.V when a knock sounded through the apartment. I grumbled and stood again, making my way to the door.

I yanked open the door and stared at the guy standing outside. He was fairly tall, with dark hair and green eyes and he had a smug smirk on his face that made me want to slap him.

"Hello," I said flatly.

"Hel-lo," he replied. His eyes travelled down my body openly. I ground my teeth together. He was way too confident.

"Who the hell are you?" I demanded. I let go of the door and crossed my arms.

He grinned lazily at me. "My name is Adrian Ivashkov," he tilted his head. "and yours is?"

"None of your damn business."

"Hello!" Lissa said brightly. She was carrying the still slightly wet kitten as she came to the door.

"Hello," Adrian nodded to the kitten. "Just got it?"

"Her," Lissa corrected with a smile. "Yes, we just got her. I'm Vasilisa Dragomir," she held out her hand and Adrian took it.

"I'm Adrian," he smirked. "Have you got a shorter name, by any chance?"

"Lissa," she beamed. "This is Rose," Lissa gestured to me and I sighed.

"Rose," he smiled at me. "Nice to meet you both."

"Yeah, sure. What do you want?" I demanded.

Adrian placed a pale hand over his heart. "I'm sorry, I just thought I'd come say hello to my new neighbours."

"You live next door," I expected Lissa to clap her hands together in excitement but I suppose the kitten sort of fouled up that plan.

"Great," I muttered, rolling my eyes. Only Lissa would think that having him live next door would be good.

"Yes," Adrian went on as though he hadn't heard my comment. "I've lived here for quite a while now. If either of you ever need any help with anything you let me know," he smiled at me. "I'll be glad to help out."

Lissa, of course, didn't catch the innuendo in his words. "Thank you so much!" Lissa beamed.

"Yeah, thanks for the offer but I don't think either of us will need any help with 'anything'," I said sarcastically. "If you don't mind," I gave him a false smile and slowly closed the door. Lissa glared at me briefly as the door clicked then smiled again.

"Bye Adrian!" she yelled through the closed door.

"Bye Lissa, bye Rose," he laughed.

"Ew," I muttered. I hoisted myself up onto the kitchen counter and Lissa handed me the kitten. "I don't want it!" I protested.

"Her," Lissa corrected. She sighed heavily. "I don't want to cook tonight. Can we get pizza or something?"

I shrugged. "Dial away, oh great master of the kitchen," I absent-mindedly started scratching the kittens chin. Lissa grabbed the phone and ordered a large pizza for the both of us and poured some milk into a bowl for the kitten.

"What's her name?" Lissa mused. I don't think she was really asking me but I answered anyway.

"We could call her something unoriginal like Ginger," I suggested.

"No, she's not Ginger," Lissa studied the small cat as it lapped up the milk. "I don't know what to call her at all," she fretted. "Maybe she's, like, a Pepperoni or something."

"No, Lissa," I giggled. "She's a cat, not a sausage," I paused thoughtfully. "Although, I'm sure we could make her a sausage if we really tried –"

Lissa punched one of my shins in a pathetic attempt to cause me pain. I giggled at her efforts and continued swinging my legs above the kitten.

"What about Lissa Junior?" I asked.

"Stop it Rose," Lissa frowned at me. "Be serious. She needs a nice, proper name."

"Okay… We could call her Aurora."

Lissa looked at the kitten critically. "Aurora," she mused. "I don't know," she said dubiously. "She's not much of an Aurora, is she? We could call her… Cider?"

"I like Cider," it was the first real name that Lissa had ever come up with. "What about Cognac?" I giggled. "Or Champaign?"

"Rose, we aren't naming her after an alcohol."

"Okay, Calamity? Chaos?" I started with words off the top of my head. "Mayhem? Disaster?"

"Stop it," Lissa giggled. "That's ridiculous. She's not mayhem of disaster or chaos or anything like that. She's just a little kitten with green eyes. Aren't you sweetie?"

"Fine, Champignon."

"I don't think that means what you think it means."

"What is it?"

"It's a mushroom."

"Oh. I guess not."

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	3. Library Pass

**Aren't I nice? Have another chapter:**

**Chapter 3 – Library Pass**

I carefully slid the book into place and sighed.

I was in a library. Lissa had gotten me a job here because she thought it would be good for me but honestly. Why a _library_? It's not like I was actually interested in reading or anything. And there weren't even any good looking guys around.

"You've put it in the wrong spot," one of the assistants said from behind me. I turned around to see Danielle watching me with owlish brown eyes a few shades lighter than my own.

"Sorry," I grumbled. "Where's it supposed to go?"

She pointed. "On that shelf over there, under C."

"Thanks," I muttered sourly. I grabbed the book and stalked over to the shelf she had pointed at. I shoved the book into its place and stormed off through the aisles. Danielle and the other assistants were wearing the same outfit as me which was – unfortunately – compulsory. It was simple, black or navy blue pants and a long sleeved white, button up shirt. Over it we had to wear an ugly green vest with a name tag. I couldn't believe Lissa had conned me into this.

"Um… Excuse me?" I turned around and glared at the woman who was waving at me from inside one of the reference sections.

"Yes?" I asked stormily.

"Sorry to bother you," the woman said, startled by my fuming expression. "I was just wondering, have you seen a young man, about this tall," she gestured with her hand at about six foot. "he's got black hair and blue eyes."

"Sorry, no," I shook me head quickly. "But if you want you can go to the front desk and they –"

"No need, I'm here," a voice called from behind me. I spun around to watch a boy saunter over to where we stood. He glanced at me with indifferent eyes before turning back to the woman.

I was half insulted half pleased. I was pleased that for once a guy didn't check me out or let his eyes run over my body and I was insulted that he hadn't. I mean, come on. I had a good body, I knew it, and this guy couldn't even be bothered appreciating it. He wasn't bad looking either, though the insult had put a black mark on his looks.

"Oh good," the woman smiled at me. "This is my son," she began.

"Yeah, that's nice," I smiled absently. "I'm sorry, I have to go now."

I didn't wait for an answer, I just stormed off again and walked through the shelves, looking for someone to help or – more preferably – someone to beat up.

"You can't! I'm sorry but it's impossible!"

I sighed and spun around, walking steadily until I rounded the corner where Danielle was arguing with a small child.

"You aren't permitted to acquire a library pass without parental permission," Danielle insisted. I laughed and stepped forward.

"Danielle, she probably doesn't understand what you're saying," I mocked the older girl. Danielle sniffed indignantly.

"She wants a library pass," she told me.

I knelt beside the little girl, trying to seem nice and friendly. I didn't know how to handle children but it really couldn't be that hard. "Hi," I said.

The little girl turned to me, her blonde pigtails bouncing. "Hello," she said shyly.

"My name's Rose," I told her quietly. "What's yours?"

"It's Shannon," Danielle interjected.

"Thanks Danielle, I'll take it from here. How old are you Shannon?"

"She's four," Danielle answered.

"Thanks, Danielle," I said sharply. "I've got this."

"I want this," Shannon showed me a picture book she had in her hand.

"You want to borrow that?" I clarified.

Shannon nodded.

"She needs a library pass," Danielle told me. I gritted my teeth and turned to the brunette.

"Thankyou Danielle. I understand."

"My mommy will get it for me," Shannon nodded at me seriously.

"Okay, where's your mommy?" I asked.

"Her mother isn't here," Danielle told me.

"Jesus Christ I get it!" I yelled. "Thankyou! Danielle!"

Shannon watched me with big grey eyes. "She's over there," she pointed a small finger over at a tiny group of women that were gossiping together over the library magazines.

"Why don't you go tell her that you want to borrow this," I patted the small girl's shoulder and she skipped off to her mother.

"She needs a library pass."

"I got that the eleventh time."

"This is only the third time I've told you. Are you an idiot?"

"Just shut up Danielle. Go do something useful, or even nerdy but don't do it here," I clenched my fists.

"Don't tell me to shut up," Danielle said indignantly.

I sighed heavily. "Just go away," I pleaded.

"But she needs a library pass if she wants to borrow something," she insisted.

"Danielle," I grabbed a fistful of the girl's shirt. "I understand. Shut up."

"Don't you man handle me!" Danielle shrieked. "I know karate!"

"And fifty other dangerous words," I quoted.

"Are you mocking me?" she demanded.

"Yes," I answered without hesitation.

The little girl had returned. I let go of Danielle's shirt and turned to the girl's mother. "My little Adele would like to borrow this," she said, patting the child's blonde head. "Would that be alright?"

"Only if you have a library pass," Danielle interjected.

"Piss off Danielle!" I hissed, kicking the girl's shin. I smiled at the mother and daughter.

"I've got one," The mother pulled out a plastic card from her purse and handed it to me.

Danielle reached around me and snatched it, examining the name printed on it and glancing at the woman. "It's a verifiable library pass," Danielle told me. "Go borrow their book out to them, Rosie."

"It's Rose," I said through gritted teeth. If I heard the words 'library pass' fly from her mouth again I'd hit it. There was something in her demeanour that shrieked SLAVE! SLAVE! at me.

"Alright Rosie, off you go," she shoved me towards the front desk.

"This way," I asked the two as politely as I could while feeling like slamming my fist into her face.

The mother and daughter followed me hand in hand to the front desk where I handed the book over to the woman there. I spun on my heel and left them there, fuming as I once again started stalking through the aisles.

"Rosie?" I muttered to myself. "What the hell? She's a librarian right? Can't she read the name tag? Is she deaf or is she an idiot?"

I stalked out of the self help aisle and continued my laps around the small room. I stalked right into four people on my second lap and with a few muttered apologies managed to get away with it. It was an hour later that I decided maybe a book would be useful. After all, if I didn't find it entertaining I could always hit Danielle over the head with it. With that in mind I went to find the heaviest book I could.

I ended up flipping through the pages of a giant book about Leonardo Da Vinci. It was too big for me to pick up which made me glad that it was sitting on a stand for convenient browsing. I flipped through the pages in a bored stupor, barely looking at the sketches of people or objects.

"Rosie!" an annoying voice that was becoming irritatingly familiar sounded.

I pretended ignorance and continued flipping the heavy pages.

"Rosie!"

"What?" I demanded, spinning to see Danielle walking up to me. There were three people trying and failing to hide behind the bookshelf nearest to us. They were whispering and giggling which gave them away immediately. I noticed that they were the three other assistants that were working today.

"Somebody threw up in the reference section. Go clean it up," it was an order.

I put my hands on my hips. "No," I replied shortly. "You do it."

"You're new," Danielle's big brown eyes narrowed.

"You're not in charge," I retorted. "I won't follow you're orders."

"Yes you will," she said self assuredly.

"Listen closely," I hushed her. "Do you not understand who I am?"

She sneered at me unpleasantly. "You're the new girl," she informed me. As if I didn't already know.

"I'm the girl who's going to kick your ass if you don't move it out of my way," I corrected.

"You wouldn't dare."

"I love it when people say that," I smiled coldly.

Danielle faltered.

"Excuse me!" A middle aged man hurried around the corner. "Could I borrow this book?"

Danielle looked up. "Only if you have a library pass."

"What happened?" Lissa demanded.

"I'm fired," I answered shortly.

"Why? How? What did you do?"

"I broke a girl's nose," I answered indifferently, picking up the kitten and stroking her soft fur.

Lissa gasped in horror. "Why?"

I shrugged. "Felt like it," I answered with a small smile.

"Rose! You don't break people's bones without a reason!"

"Yes mother. I won't happen again."

I remembered the satisfying crunch when my fist came down on Danielle's nose. Of course, everyone around us was horrified. She saw the blood on her hands and fainted. I hoped that didn't mean she escaped the pain. The middle aged man swore he would never set foot in the library again and disappeared and the three other assistants went to get the supervisor. But I was FREE! No longer confined to a library, looking a pictures of naked men because Da Vinci had some sort of freaky gay fetish. I was home free. And feeling like watching T.V.

"Rose," Lissa was watching me disapprovingly.

"Yeah?" I asked as I sat down on the soft blue couch.

"While we're here, don't break any more bones, okay? We don't want to affect South Dakota's crime rates, all right?"

I rolled my eyes. "No more bitch punching, I got it."

Lissa smiled happily. "Guess what? I named the kitten."

"What's her name then?"

**Finally! I can stop calling her 'the kitten'. Next chapter soon. But I do need reviews...**


	4. Movie Night

**Iolanthi – said Eye-lan-the**

**Chapter 4 – Movie Night**

"Come here Iolanthi," I clicked my fingers at the ginger kitten and it rolled over and mewed at me. Lissa had named her after a dog she'd once owned. I thought it was a bit weird, naming a cat after a dog that had died of cancer but Lissa had started calling her that and Iolanthi didn't seem very desperate to give up her new name so it stuck.

"She won't come, you know that," Lissa was putting up her platinum blonde hair to keep it out of her face. We were going shopping and the kitten was stuck behind the fridge. Or, at least I assumed she was stuck because she wasn't coming out.

"Iolanthi come here right now," I demanded, pointing at the ground in front of me. Another meow answered my orders and she reached out a little paw toward me. "Aha!" I cried in victory. I leaned forward and grabbed her small paw, dragging her along the ground toward me and throwing her into my arms.

"You've got her?"

"Yeah," I cuddled the kitten as I stood up and pushed the fridge back into place. "Does that teach you to go behind fridges?" I asked. "Don't do that again. I don't like you but I don't want to fish your dead body out from behind the fridge okay?"

"She loves you," Lissa kissed the dusty kitten's head. "She just says she doesn't."

"I don't love you so don't let that go to your head," I warned the cat. She rolled over in my arms and launched off me, landing on the marble counter top.

Lissa laughed. "She understands everything you say you know," she told me, "Be nice to her or she'll hate you."

"She doesn't hate me. Do you kebab?"

"Don't say things like that to her," Lissa nudged me. "Are you ready to go?"

"Hell yeah," I grabbed the keys and ran to the door. "Let's go shopping!"

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I stalked across the shop, steamrolling through the crowd to reach Lissa. She was holding a shirt up against herself and examining her reflection in the mirror. Naturally it was a boring blouse that did nothing for her almost washboard chest but what I was holding would soon fix that.

"Here," I thrust the padded bra towards her and she froze.

"What are you doing Rose?" she was blushing profusely. I rolled my eyes at her.

"Come on Liss, it's just a bra," I shook the hanger it was attached to.

Lissa had a morbid fear of bra shopping. You'd think that she'd had some scarring experience, like a really ugly guy walking in on her while she was trying one on or something but really she just thought it was embarrassing.

"It's a _bra_, Rose," she glanced around furtively, as though to make sure that none of the surrounding women had seen her near the piece of fabric.

"Well, duh."

"Rose!" she hissed at me. "I hate bra shopping. And I don't need a padded bra," her face had gone a darker shade of pink as she said it.

"Come on Liss, I promise if it doesn't make your boobs look bigger then I'll never hand you a bra again," as I offered the deal I knew she would take it. Lissa would grasp at anything just to keep me from giving her lingerie.

"Deal," she stuck out her hand and we shook on it. I beamed at her and led her to the dressing rooms, swinging the bra in one hand.

"Stop it Rose, people are watching," Lissa was glancing around nervously. As far as I could tell there was no one here that was watching us. We were in the women's section after all, not many guys offered to go clothes shopping with their girlfriends.

I sighed and stopped swinging the hanger anyway. It would do no good for me if I made her even more edgy. We arrived at the dressing rooms and I handed her the bra which she held like a nuclear bomb detonator before I pushed her inside.

"Rose, it has frills!" she hissed through the curtain.

"You have amazing skills of observation Liss," I retorted. "Put the damn bra on."

"I hate you, you know."

"I know," I studied my nails as I waited. "I could get you a black lace one to try on," I offered. "You don't have any special occasion underwear."

"Keep your voice down Rose! And that status is not about to change!"

I laughed and leaned back against the wall. "Really Lissa, it's a mall. You're supposed to buy stuff."

"But when you buy bra's you aren't supposed to scream it to the world," she sighed. "Okay, it's on."

Lissa stepped out of the dressing room, with the boring blouse on. I studied her critically.

"It works," I said slowly. "As well as can be expected."

"Okay, okay," Lissa blushed and glanced around. "I get it; I don't have curves like you do. My boobs will never look big. Can I get changed now?"

"Yeah, sure," I gestured to the changing rooms and Lissa dove back inside. "You're not getting that blouse," I called in to her.

"Why not? I like it!" she protested.

"Because it's boring and it doesn't compliment you. We'll have to find something else. Something more form fitting. You're applying for a job down at that club aren't you?"

"That's more your thing Rose," Lissa re-emerged looking slightly worried. "You can do clubs, I can't."

"You can do library's, I can't. Yet, I still went in there."

Lissa laughed. "And came back out again in three hours."

"Whatever," I led her back to the clothes. "The point is I gave it a shot."

"Why don't we just swap jobs?"

I shrugged. "Doesn't bother me at all. But first," I grinned. "first I dare you to spend three hours in the club flirting."

Lissa grinned in return. "Only if you spend three hours in the library, reading."

I groaned. "Reading?"

"And getting along with everyone inside. No bitching, no snapping, no punching, kicking or screaming," Lissa counted the no-go's off on her fingers. "And you have to help whoever asks for help."

"I can't. They fired me," I informed her smugly.

"I'll talk to the owner," Lissa said flippantly. Lissa always convinced people. She was very good at it, so good that I had more than once suggested sales was her true calling.

"Alright. But when you flirt I'll have to be there."

"And when you're being nice and reading and all that I'll be standing by with a camera."

"No fair! I get a camera too! You'd better be careful though," I grinned as a new devilish plan came to me. "You're twenty first birthday is only four months away. I've invited all our old friends and their parents," I hadn't actually, but it would serve my purposes. "Oh! And I get to dress you the day you work."

Lissa grimaced but shook my offered hand. "Alright then. When are we going to do this?"

I paused as I flipped through the shirts. "When you get the job?" I suggested. "And you will get the job," I told her before she could say something negative. "You'll wear this bra and…" I flipped faster. "This shirt!" I brought out a low cut peach shirt and held it against her. Lissa didn't exactly have the boobs to hold up some other options and this short – and slightly revealing – shirt had frilly shoulder straps that would be decorative and supportive. "Perfect," I muttered.

"No it's not!" the blood had drained from Lissa's face as she stared at me in horror.

I glared at her. "You aren't going back on our deal are you? The deal was I get to dress you. We agreed about twenty seconds ago. Have you forgotten?"

Lissa sighed dramatically. "Okay, I'll wear it."

"Good," I had an armful of shirts. "Let's go try this stuff on!"

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Three hours later we left the mall and walked home. We pretty much walked everywhere but considering our building was practically on top of the mall driving would be even more pointless than usual. It was about five thirty when we finally staggered into the lobby.

Lissa and I went up in the elevator laden with bags and when we stepped of on the sixth floor one of our neighbours was locking his door.

"Is that Rose and Lissa in there?" Adrian chuckled. "I think I'd have to swim through all of that to find you."

"Hello Adrian," Lissa greeted. "Where are you going?"

"Just to get something to eat. Would you ladies care to join me?"

"We're a little busy Adrian," I mentioned. "Could you open our door for us?" I stuck the key through the pile of bags and felt Adrian take it off me.

"Anything to help," he sang.

Lissa and I struggled through the door and threw all our things down on the couch. Iolanthi was already there of course, purring and weaving between my legs.

"Talk to her," I gestured to Lissa. "She loves you."

Adrian was still standing at our door, watching in amusement as we tried to disentangle ourselves from the millions of shopping bags.

"Adrian, where are you going for dinner?" Lissa asked, brushing the last of the bags off her arms.

Adrian shrugged. "There's always some restaurant open."

Lissa smiled. "Would you like to have dinner with us?"

I was holding a cat in my left hand, three bags in my right and my purse was between my teeth so I had no time to protest or run over there and shake some sense into her.

"I'd love to," Adrian grinned.

I shook off the rest of the bags and stepped up to the kitchen where Lissa was already whizzing around. Adrian and I joined in the cooking process. Well, Adrian did while I sat there and tried to do as little as possible. Adrian couldn't cook the same way Lissa could but at least he could shake a salt shaker without breaking out a disaster like me.

Adrian informed us of his day, which was only a bit more boring than ours. Apparently the landlord had flipped. It was all over a suitcase left on the third floor and he had evacuated everyone and waited around for an hour so that a bomb squad could declare it an ordinary suitcase filled with clothes. Our other next door neighbour had thrown her stereo out the window in a freak show attempt to tell the world about global warming then stripped off on her balcony. Another tenant had officially declared war on the rats that lived in his shoes, even though there was no evidence of rats. All in all it sounded like he'd had a stressful day.

When dinner was made we all sat around the kitchen counter and ate, deep in conversation. I found that I didn't really mind Adrian, it was just that he kept giving me weird looks. When dinner was over we cleaned up while still talking. I'd come to a few conclusions about Adrian. He was a playboy, a pervert and most probably a peeping tom. And he liked me.

"Let's watch a movie!" Lissa suggested. "How about… Prom Night: A Night To Die For? That's a great movie!"

I laughed. "Liss, you spent the entire movie with your face buried in your hands or clutching my arm and screaming!" Lissa loved horror films even though they gave her nightmares. I couldn't imagine what made her think that it would get any less scary but she always insisted.

"I haven't seen it," Adrian commented.

"I bought it before we moved here," Lissa said enthusiastically. "It was so scary. I'll go get it!"

She shot off into to her room and appeared a few moments later brandishing the movie and grinning.

"How about we watch Babe, Lissa?" I asked, smiling.

She scowled at me and put the DVD into the player. Lissa always cried during Babe. I had no idea why because she could watch a tragedy without batting an eyelash. The movie menu came up and Adrian and I drifted to the couch. When I sat down, Adrian sat down right next to me, to close for comfort.

I poked him in the shoulder and pushed him away with the tip of my finger. He leaned away but when I let go he leaned back in.

My eyes narrowed. "Piss off pervert," I hissed.

He threw a hand over his heart. "Pervert?! You obviously don't know me!"

"Exactly," I pried the arm he'd just flung over my shoulder away. "So stop putting the moves on me."

"You two are so funny," Lissa giggled from her spot on the floor.

"Funny or not," I shoved him away. "I'm not cuddling up with you Ivashkov."

He chuckled and crawled to the other end of the couch, eyeing me up, as if waiting for a good time to sneak over and start feeling me up. He watched me. I glared at him. And with that, the movie began.

Lissa seemed to be the only one watching. Through the whole two hours Adrian and I didn't look away from each other. He had a flirtatious smirk on his lips and I was alternating between deadly glares and cautious glances. I couldn't concentrate on the movie. I wouldn't allow myself to put down my guard. At any moment… at any moment at all he could come over here.

Every few seconds he would twitch, moving some part of is body – be it a finger of a toe – would move closer to me. When this happened I would shift uneasily until the space between us was the same as it was when the movie had started.

When finally the movie finished Lissa was shaking on the floor. I hadn't counted how many times she screamed when the murderer had jumped out of no where or the main character had found one of her friends dead.

"Wow that was tense," her voice was shaky. "Don't you guys think so?"

"Definitely," I was still watching Adrian. "And scary," I added. The time I had spent watching Adrian was tense and scary and Lissa hadn't specified which 'that' she was talking about so technically I was telling the truth.

"I rather liked it, but I think it could've been better," Adrian smirked at me from across the couch.

"No, I liked it just the way it was." _With three feet between us_.

Lissa looked back and forth between us and shrugged. "Come on guys, we all need to go to bed and sleep."

Adrian smirked and opened his mouth. I knew something inappropriate was going to come out of it so I took a course of action. I ran.

I slammed my door closed behind me and shouted out into the living room. "Goodnight!"

I sighed in relief and made my way to my bed. It looked ultra soft tonight and I collapsed onto it without thinking about getting changed.


	5. Swiss Cheese II

**Chapter 5 – Swiss Cheese II**

"_Rose don't drive, you're drunk!" Lissa giggled at me._

"_You're drunk too," I pointed out, my words slurring. She giggled again._

"_Alright, let's go then but don't get caught!" she staggered into the passenger seat as I tried to grab the handle of the door._

_Finally I managed to grab the silver handle and I yanked open the door, falling in beside my best friend. "That was fun," I giggled this time. She nodded, her eyes half closed._

"_Hit the gas Rose, we don't want to be caught."_

"_I reckon the faster we drive, the less likely we are to get caught," I was very proud of my reasoning. "The cops won't see us 'cause we'll just go WOOOSH straight past 'em."_

"_Yeah, okay… Let's drive."_


	6. Dare You Rose

**Chapter 6 – Dare You Rose**

"Please go away, please go away, please go away, please go away, please go away, please go away, please go away, please go away, please go away," I chanted softly, on the verge of rocking back and forth.

"No, I already tried that," Mason was saying. He stretched out a leg underneath the table. I sucked in a breath and made myself as small as possible, curling myself into a ball in the corner.

"Go away," I hissed, glaring through the wood at where I imagined my best guy friend's head would be. "Just go away!"

"So nothing you say will make her go out with you? Like, nothing?" I'd only just met the girl, Hayley. I didn't know why Mason was here. I didn't even know why I was here. If I so much as twitched Mason would feel it and he'd look under the desk and find me there, half naked, wearing horn rimmed glasses and too short pants with a shit load of make-up on and clutching a torn shirt and vest in my right hand.

"No," his voice was sombre. "She doesn't like me that way I guess."

They were discussing a girl named Claire. They'd been discussing her for the last forty minutes while I'd moved like a contortionist to avoid Mason's irritatingly long legs as he shifted in his chair.

"Is this really the place for this discussion?!" I hissed again.

"What did you say?" Mason asked suddenly.

"I didn't say anything," Hayley replied in confusion.

"I thought I heard someone," Mason paused and I sucked in another deep breath and started praying.

_Dear God, I swear I'll believe in you if you keep Mason from looking under this table, I swear I'll believe. I'll go to church every Sunday, I'll give money to charities, I'll save stray animals like Lissa and I'll be nice to everyone I meet just please don't let him look under this table. I swear I'll clean churches and – _

"Rose?"

Shit.

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Pause my life please. Rewind. Let's start this from the beginning:

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"Are you happy now?" I hissed at Lissa. She was hiding behind one of the many bookshelves, trying and failing to stifle her laughter.

"Yeah, I just have to turn the video camera on," there was some shuffling and some indistinct mutters before a red light flashed from the darkness. "Okay, it's on and I am now recording one of the most embarrassing moments of your life."

"No need to tell me," I muttered. "I know what time it is."

"Good because I don't have a watch on me."

"I'll lend you mine tomorrow night, it measures humiliation," I growled.

"Really?" she giggled. "What does it say right now?"

"I'm moderately shamed," I replied easily, leaning back in my chair. The baggy shirt I was wearing hid my curves completely and the only thing I could hope for was that if anybody I knew saw me, they wouldn't recognise me. Though realistically, I didn't know may people in South Dakota. They were all still in Montana so the risks of that were pretty low.

"So what would it say for me tomorrow night?" I knew she was confused because I hadn't let her in on my plan yet.

"Well, I'm sick of waiting for you to get the job in the nightclub so we're going over tomorrow night. I promise this watch will be red flagging your utter mortification."

"Thanks, Rose," she sounded a bit hesitant. "But for now, it's my turn to embarrass you. Just remember to be real nice to anyone that needs help. Or even if they only want to talk," she added after a short pause.

"This is going to be simple," I said confidently. I picked up the Jane Austen book I had been sentenced to read and began flipping through the pages. Lissa didn't know how easy this was going to be for me. I could play pretend far more easily than she could flirt so I was getting the better part of the deal. My only problem was the clothing. I mean, what the hell? Lissa had gone all out with the 'librarian Rose' thing. She'd managed to find a shirt and vest at least four times to big and ugly horn rimmed glasses that made my eyes water. The Jane Austen book was tattered and thick and I just _knew_ I looked like a complete loser.

But revenge would be sweet.

"Excuse me I could use some help," A girl about twenty years old approached me, studying a book carefully.

"Yeah, sure. What can I do for you?" I asked in my ultra polite voice.

"I was wondering if you could find the third volume of this series for me," she glanced at me and handed me the book. I sighed and pushed my chair away from the desk, intently studying the cover while trying to manoeuvre away from Lissa's camcorder range.

"Come with me," I motioned her to follow me as I picked up my bag from the floor and walked around her. "There are computers that can tell you where to find books."

At least that's what they had told me when I'd come in this morning. One of the assistants that had been here on my first day was working again and she'd reluctantly showed me where I could find some. I couldn't be sure if the reluctance was dislike or fear but it worked out in my favour as far as I could tell. No one was bothering me.

I led the girl to a row of computers and motioned her to sit. "I'm pretty sure you just type in the author name or title or something and it'll tell you if we have it in stock… I'm new," I shrugged when she looked at me sceptically.

"Oh," she muttered absently as she turned to the computer screen.

"Good luck," I called as I walked away. I clutched my bag to my side, taking small, quick steps with my head bowed. I could hear Lissa giggling as she followed me with the camcorder.

"Very helpful," she told me as she skipped out behind me.

"Thanks," I growled.

"Why so sour Rose? You're doing _really_ well," she giggled again.

"Revenge," I breathed. "It's called karma Liss, and it's coming for you."

"What was that?"

"Nothing," I muttered sourly. "Just plotting."

"Okay," she laughed and I could almost feel the camera zooming in on the back of my head. "Oh, someone's coming!"

I rolled my eyes and turned around to face the stranger, a pretty red headed girl with bright green eyes and pale skin littered with freckles. "Can I help you?"

"Um, yeah," she looked around. "Could you help me find someone?"

I almost told her no in some snappy, undoubtedly cool remark but I somehow managed to hold me tongue. "Yeah, whatever," I shrugged. "Who're you looking for?"

"My cousin," she smiled. "He came down for a visit and we were supposed to be meeting here. I don't know why the library but he said it was important or something and I guess I got lost. Or he did. But the thing is I can't find him."

I let her keep talking, barely stopping myself from studying my nails and yawning in some overdone show of boredom. "Yeah."

She waited in silence for a moment, watching me expectantly. "Have you seen him?"

"What does he look like?" I prompted.

"Oh! Sorry," she smiled shyly. "I'm a complete ditz; I forgot you might need to know. Well, I haven't seen him in a really long time so I don't know what he looks like now but he's got red hair and grey eyes and he… um… I don't know really," she giggled childishly.

"How old is he?"

"I'm pretty sure he's turning twenty one next month but I'm hopeless with dates so I don't know."

In spite of the fact that I'd met her in the library and she talked too much this girl was a lot more likeable than any of the other young women I'd met in the library. "What's you're name?" I was trying to be friendly but knowing that Lissa was watching my every move with the camcorder was making my skin crawl.

"Hayley," she held out her hand and smiled shyly at me again.

"Hi, I'm… new here," I substituted hurriedly. If ever I met this girl again I didn't want her to remember my name. But then again, the alternative scenario was pretty gruesome… I could picture it, me walking through the supermarket and a voice shouting 'Hey! Hey! Librarian girl! The one who wore all the makeup and the freaky hair with the baggy clothes and ugly glasses!' Okay, so maybe a slightly different scenario but I was planning to have amnesia for the three hours when I got out of here and I really didn't need the reminder.

She paused, probably wondering if I would give her my name. I ran through all my options.

"I'm Rose," I smiled. "So let's go find your cousin."

We walked off through the bookshelves and I could hear the buzzing of the video camera as Lissa followed us. Or maybe I just thought I could hear it and my subconscious was providing me with sound effects…

"So how old are you Rose?" Hayley asked conversationally.

"Uh," I turned around, attempting to see Lissa through the mountains of books. "Twenty one in August."

"Wow. I'm only nineteen. I guess the twenty first is worse than the eighteenth right? I mean, that's when the show all the embarrassing videos, right?"

I whipped my head back around, dread seeping into my muscles. "Yeah," I replied through clenched teeth. "That's when the videos and pictures and embarrassing moments get to shine. I'm hoping that certain videos will burn, along with the scene of the crime and any back ups my friends might have. You're stuck in embarrassing moments all through your life and heartless friends somehow managed to get the license to record them on video cameras because you made a stupid bet in the middle of a clothes store but they have to do something equally as embarrassing and you get to film that… Revenge will be sweet," I whispered the last part, hoping that it was somehow heard by Lissa and the god forsaken camcorder.

She laughed at my rant, not taking me seriously at all. "Sounds like you're friends have quite the stock of videos."

"I try to avoid situations like that," I said sweetly. "I generally set their whole house on fire if they've got embarrassing footage. Unfortunately the one person with the most embarrassing things caught on camera lives with me…"

"Well what are you going to do?"

"Hire some much earned karma," I shrugged. "Karma's like a hit man. It'll only do something for you if it owes you. It owes me a _lot_ of revenge."

She smiled slyly. "I've already burned the evidence of my most embarrassing moments," she whispered conspiratorially.

I laughed humourlessly. "Trust me; it's the last few years you have to worry about. Parents put home videos in the same box. That's easy to burn. Try it when they get smarter and start hiding crap from you. Then you're friends get in on it and you're sandwiched between humour and cruelty."

"That sounds violent," she giggled.

"There tends to be a few black eyes when I'm done," I admitted. "Sometimes a bone is broken but mostly it's just bruises and cracked ribs…"

There was a slightly awkward silence as Hayley tried to think of an appropriate response.

"Just kidding," I assured her. I thought about it. Lying to people younger than you wasn't a crime. Lying to children was considered appropriate when the Easter bunny was concerned, who needed to know about my violent tendencies?

"Oh," she laughed in relief. "I guess I wouldn't blame you though. Birthdays are pretty tricky business."

"Yeah," I muttered. My eyes were fixed on a boy – or man would be more appropriate – with red hair. He was sitting on one of the lounge chairs staring out the window in boredom. "Hey, is that you're cousin?" I pointed.

"Oh my God. Yes! Mason!" Hayley jumped up and down and waved. I could literally feel the blood drain from my face, my hands start trembling and my knees went suddenly weak with nausea.

"I need to throw up," I whispered. Hayley didn't hear me through her enthusiasm when Mason turned around and gave his trademark grin.

"Hi Hayley!" he called back. A passing librarian shushed him and it provided a distraction. I did the only thing I could. I dove for cover.

There was a sudden silence but it was interrupted by my thundering heart. I could hear the blood pounding my ears and I could feel the tremors of terror that wracked my body. If Mason saw me dressed like this the world would never forget. Ever. He probably had a camera hidden on him somewhere so even if I managed to burn the tape there would be a back up copy with Mason. He never forgot things either. Excluding tests of course.

"I thought you weren't going to show up!" Mason sounded a lot closer now. I peeked out from under my hiding place and saw Mason grinning at his cousin. Their hair was the exact same shade of orange… But I couldn't focus on that now. Mason was moving around the table and from that position my shadow was visible. The desk was only made for two at the most and was about two meters by two meters… Not such a good hiding place. I retreated under the desk to find myself pressed against a wall.

I faintly heard Hayley reply but I was frantically glancing around for a good hiding spot. They'd spot me here and as if being dressed like this weren't enough…

"Shit," I muttered quietly. I felt like slamming my fist into something that would break but the wall, the floor and the desk were my only options and they would betray my location. "Move it on Rose," I ground my teeth together and started to crawl from under the desk. There was a bigger table only a few feet away. I think I was about half way out from under it when I knew something was wrong. I felt the fabric of my shirt and vest pull tight around me, I heard the gentle rip and I suddenly felt suspiciously cold. I spun around and stared in disbelief at where my shirt was hanging from a crooked nail under the desk.

"Oh shit no," I hissed angrily. Mason was moving. I lunged back for the cover of the desk and yanked at my shirt and vest, ripping it even more.

"You're not serious!" I heard Hayley exclaim. "You finally asked her out!"

I heard the chair scrape and Mason threw himself down on the chair. I shrank back against the wall and waited… and waited… and waited.

The conversation went on, the discussion of this 'Claire' never ending. I was so angry I was almost desperate. I could hear Lissa, laughing hysterically in some long forgotten empty aisle where no one could tell her to shut the fuck up. I sat. I squirmed. I avoided any contact with my soon to be ex-best guy friend's legs as he stretched and moved around in his seat and I silently cursed the world.

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So now you know the series of events that got me in this damned situation. Let's keep going with this adventure:

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"Rose?"

Shit.

"Um… Hi," I waved sheepishly.

"What are you…" Mason trailed off, his grey eyes flicking all over my body. "Um…"

"What?" I asked, putting all the attitude I could in it. "Never seen a shirtless girl before?"

He actually blushed for a second there. "That's not… What are you doing?" One thing Mason and I had in common was quick recovery.

"Washing desks, what does it look like?" I retorted angrily.

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, of course you are. I mean why the hell are you wearing glasses? And why _are_ you shirtless?"

"It's a new sex fetish," I rolled my eyes as well. "My boyfriend Adrian and I figured we'd give kinky sex in public places a shot."

"You've got a boyfriend?" Mason asked in puzzlement.

"Rose!" Lissa burst out of one of the shelves. "I got the entire thing on tape!" she cackled. "Oh my God! That has to be one of the funniest things," she gasped for air. "I have ever seen! The hiding under the desk and everything! Oh my God!"

"Karma Lissa," I hissed menacingly. "It's coming and it wants blood. Or humiliation."

Lissa couldn't hear me over all the hysterical laughter. I crawled out from under the desk after a sweep of the room revealed that nobody was standing in the general area. I could feel the heat radiating off my cheeks, as though I'd become my own personal sun.

"Shut up," I muttered as I tried to put the shirt back on. I noticed Mason watching every move I made as I struggled back into my shirt with humour in his eyes. And something else that I didn't want to think about. Mason was a great friend but I wasn't about to rip my clothes off for him… Ah the irony.

Thankfully Hayley turned to Lissa. "What's all this about?"

Lissa held up a hand as she finished up with her laughing fit. "Okay," she gasped as she composed herself. "Well, Rose and I were shopping the other day," she paused again and a giggle escaped. "and Rose dared me to… do something," she glanced at me in warning when she saw my grin. "and so I dared her to spend three hours in a library being nice and pretending to read Jane Austen!" she grinned brightly. "It turned out way better than I thought it would."

"I dared Lissa to spend three hours in a night club flirting," I informed Mason and Hayley smugly. An idea came to me then, an evil, sadistic, karma-like idea that made me grin insanely. "Would you guys like to come along? You know, witness the humiliation?" It was only half of my plan but I knew Lissa would object to the other half.

"Sure," Hayley said brightly. "We'd love to."

Mason grinned at me. "Yep, we'll come along."

Lissa bit her lip. "Do you have to?" she pleaded. "Are you sure you have to come?"

I noticed the signs of Lissa's natural charm coming into play and I decided to step in. "They're coming," I insisted. "They turned up at my dare," I glared at her. "The least they could do is come to yours. Are you still filming this?"

Lissa grinned and nodded. "Of course! You're three hours aren't up yet. You've got about two hours to go. Though I don't imagine it can get much better than this…"

I rolled my eyes instead of groaning. My shirt was practically in pieces but I'd managed to tie it so that is somewhat resembled a shirt. "Do we have to keep going?" I asked in exasperation. "You've got one of the most embarrassing moments of my life on camera! Can I please wash this crap off?" I pointed at my cheek where the tick layer of foundation was lying.

Lissa sighed overdramatically. "I suppose if you really have to. This is priceless," with another evil grin she snapped the camcorder shut and the little red button went out.

I stalked away from them all and grabbed my bag from the floor where I'd dropped it in my desperate flight for cover. I realised how ridiculous it must have looked, a twenty year old woman throwing herself onto the floor and crawling under a desk to avoid a situation that wasn't even as embarrassing as she thought it would be.

There were public toilets right outside the library and I exited as fats as I could, making a beeline for the doors. Public toilets were disgusting yes, but I was desperate. I locked one of the small cubicles and quickly dragged my change of clothes from my bag and dressed. I burst out of the small cubicle and ran to one of the small, cracked mirrors of the wall and started wiping off the makeup. Lissa had applied a lot of it and the mascara would have to stay but the rest came off with a little water. I le down my hair and ran my fingers through it before I ran to the bathroom exit, desperate for air.

"Hey, you're actually really pretty," Hayley's astounded voice made me roll my eyes.

"Thanks," I muttered, flipping my hair over my shoulder. "I feel so much better now that I'm out of there," I motioned to the library and shuddered. "I'm never going into a library again."

"Too traumatic?" Mason asked me with a coy grin.

"Completely terrifying," I nodded. "I'll need therapy for every second I spent under that damn desk listening to you talk about Claire."

Mason grinned again. "What are you guys doing here?"

"You mean in South Dakota?" I laughed. Lissa smiled and stepped into the parking lot.

"We're hiding," Lissa winked.

"Hey, where are you guys going?" Hayley asked, stopping at a blue Honda parked on the curb. "I could give you a ride or something," she offered.

"Sure," I shrugged. "That'd be cool."

We piled into the car and Hayley pulled out onto the road. "Where to?"

Lissa gave Hayley our address while I shifted uncomfortably under Mason's gaze. I wasn't sure what to make of it. We'd dated a bit in college but that hadn't worked out and now he was giving me the same look he'd given me before we'd dated.

"So what are you hiding from?" Hayley prompted.

"We don't know," I laughed. "We were too drunk that night and now we can't remember anything. We decided to have an extended holiday until we can remember."

"How long will that take?" Mason spoke, his eyes still glued to me.

"Don't know," Lissa shrugged from the front seat. "At this rate we'll be here for the rest of our lives."

"Yeah, but at least we've got Iolanthi," I reminded her.

"I thought you hated her?" Lissa teased.

"She's a rat in disguise but I can't think of anything else I'd rather do with her."

"Who's this?" Mason interjected. "Iolanthi?"

"Our kitten," Lissa beamed.

"Rat," I corrected. "One day I'll fry her up and we'll eat like the Chinese do."

"Rose," Lissa scolded. "How many times have I told you not to talk about her like that?"

"I don't know," I shrugged. "I haven't been counting."

Mason laughed. "I thought you hated animals Rose."

"I don't," I insisted. "They hate me. It's not my fault, I swear!"

"You give out a bad vibe," Lissa told me sagely.

"A bad vibe?" I asked incredulously. "_I_ give out a bad vibe?"

"Well you're violent enough," Mason considered.

"Hey! Who's side are you on?" I demanded.

"I'm not on anyone's side," he put his hands in the air. "I'm just bouncing the truth off people."

Hayley had pulled the car up in front of our building and we continued arguing for a few minutes.

"She doesn't seem that violent," Hayley defended.

"Not that – Not that violent?" Mason demanded incredulously. "Okay, have you ever heard the story about our metal bed frames in our boarding school back in Montana?"

"No," Hayley giggled. "It sounds funny though."

Mason then proceeded to relay one of his favourite stories about the time I'd hit one of our teachers with one of the metal sticks from our bed frames. I'd threatened him with it because I wanted to show him how bendable they were when force was applied. It was a major issue at our school, undependable beds that would collapse if you moved the wrong way. Turns out I'd dismantled one of the few stronger beds and whacked him around the head with it. There was a concussion and a medical bill was sent to my mother but other than that and a month's suspension it was all good.

"Hey," there was a rapid knocking on the window. I turned around to see Adrian standing there looking more than slightly confused.

"Hi Adrian," I was going to wind down the window but I cracked open the door instead.

"Hello, flower of beauty," he grinned at me then turned his attention to the others in the car before he could catch my eye roll. "Hello Lissa," he titled his head in her direction.

"Hello," Hayley waved at him form the driver's seat. "I'm Hayley."

Adrian shook her hand. "I'm Adrian Ivashkov."

"Mason Ashford," Mason thrust his hand forward and gave Adrian a look that was both calculating and threatening.

"Nice to meet you," Adrian returned the look with a condescending smile and raised eyebrows.

"We have to go," Hayley was watching the digital clock on her dashboard. "I'd love to talk some more," she gave us a sad smile as Lissa and I hopped out of he car.

"We'll see you tomorrow night," I promised, knowing that while I did Adrian and Mason were having a staring contest.

"Yeah," Mason leaned toward us. "Bye Rose," he smiled warmly at me and nodded at Lissa before Hayley drove off.

"Well that was interesting," Adrian commented as we walked inside. "Is he your boyfriend?"

"What? Mason?" I giggled. "No. he's just an old, old friend. I've known him since kindergarten along with Lissa."

"Oh," he sounded barely interested. "What was he doing flirting with you then?"

"What do you care?" I asked as we walked into the elevator.

"I must defend your honour Rose!" he threw a hand over his heart in another exaggerated gesture of hurt.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, sure. You flirt with me all the time."

"Well yes but I'm allowed," he sounded incredibly overconfident.

"You're allowed? Who gave you permission 'cause it sure as hell wasn't me."

"No one gave me permission Rose," he said airily when the elevator stopped. "I just know these things."

Lissa laughed and darted for our door with me right behind her.

Another spark came to life in my head and I turned around. I knew I would regret it but I had to ask.

"Hey Adrian," I called after him as he unlocked his door.

"Yes, light of my life?"

"Stop with the corny lines," I ordered, already wanting to take back what I was about to say. "Tomorrow Lissa, Mason, Hayley and I will be going clubbing," I heard Lissa gasp in horror. "Do you want to come?"

Adrian grinned. "Of course. I wouldn't miss it for the world."

I smiled as I turned back to our apartment door where Lissa stood, frozen in horror.

"No," she sounded strangled. "You didn't."

"Sorry Lissa. I guess karma's a bitch."


	7. Dare You Lissa

**Okay my sense of chapter names sucks. Thanks to Love is For the Brokenhearted and iPunk4Me. Not sure if you guys are the only ones reading but I love you both for reviewing.**

**Disclaimer: Sorry I forgot before but I do not own any of the characters (Aside Hayley) and I do not own VA.**

**Chapter 7 – Dare You Lissa**

"Oh," Mason's voice was flat and emotionless. "He's coming."

I glanced back at Adrian who was standing by the door talking to Lissa and Hayley. "Yeah. Adrian wanted to come so I let him," I shrugged it off while regretting the invitation.

Mason shifted his feet so that he could see behind me. He shrugged and ran a hand through his red hair. "Oh well."

"Okay, what's you're problem?" I put my hand son my hips in one of my well known 'I'm in a shitty mood' stances.

Mason looked at me absent-mindedly. "Nothing."

"Nothing? What's you're problem with Adrian?" I gestured to the last guy on the face of the earth I wanted to be defending.

Mason shifted uneasily, leaning back against Hayley's car. "He's not good for you Rose," he answered suddenly, pushing himself off the car. "He's just… not right. You know? You shouldn't be dating him. He shouldn't be living with you!" he huffed angrily.

"Mase? Are you serious?" I turned to look at Adrian, standing there smoking his clove cigarette. "I'm not dating Adrian. I don't live with him either. He lives in the apartment next to Lissa and me."

"Yeah, well," Mason shot Adrian a dirty look. "He likes you. And I don't like it. He's… He's just wrong. Stay away from him, okay Rose?"

"Don't tell me who to stay away from Ashford!" I moved my hands from my hips and crossed my arms in defiance. "If I wanted to date Adrian you're crappy, jealous warning wouldn't keep me away from him."

Mason looked at me stonily. "Right. Sorry, Rose."

I sighed and gestured to the others. "Come on guys, let's go."

I fumed all the way to the night club, glaring at my window. Lissa sat next to me in the middle and Adrian sat on the other end. Mason was making a big show of glaring at him from the passenger seat and Hayley happily chatted away, every now and then getting an answer from Adrian or Lissa. I was fiddling with the video camera in my lap when we parked the car and by then I was in a much better mood. I wasn't sure if Mason would play along with the plan anymore though.

"Hey Rose?" he caught my arm as we were filing through the double door entrance.

"What's up?" I asked casually.

He looked at his feet then back up at me with his trademark grin. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to sound like I controlled your life or anything… I just… don't like him. Sorry. You can like whoever you want."

I smiled gratefully at him, assured that our friendship hadn't taken to great of a beating because of my rejection. "Thanks Mase."

"But," he continued. "I will give him competition you know."

The smile dropped. "Look, Mason we tried this. It didn't work out between us so we let it go."

"No," he shook his head. "You let it go. You dumped me, remember? It wasn't exactly mutual and now we've been apart for a few years," he shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe something could happen between us again. Something better, you know."

"No, I don't know. Mason, I love you as a friend, but that's all."

He grinned at me again. "It's a start. Now let's go embarrass Lissa!" He didn't wait for my response but started off into the crowd that was on the night club floor.

"Shit," I muttered. I weaved through the throng of people, searching for Lissa, Hayley or even Adrian. I still had sight of Mason's red hair as he moved agilely through the crowd so there was no way I'd lose him. The only problem was catching up. I was caught up in small groups of people as they tried to find their way to the bar or their table and a few guys tried to get me to stop and talk to them so by the time I caught up with Mason he'd already found the others.

"Nice Lissa," he was saying. I looked Lissa up and down and laughed. She looked way more uncomfortable than I'd ever be in that outfit but then, she'd have been way more comfortable than me dressed as a geeky librarian. Lissa did elegance and beauty, not slutty and hot. It looked good though and I mentally congratulated myself.

"It looks good," Hayley said, trying to assure her. Lissa was sitting on a chair, visibly trembling as she glanced nervously around the club.

"What if somebody I know sees me?" she asked shakily. "They'll never forget."

I held up the camcorder and pressed the start button. "Nobody will forget this Lissa. Ever," I grinned evilly and did a victory dance in my head. "Prepare to be humiliated."

Lissa buried her face in her hands then stood up. The skirt she was wearing could barely be called a skirt and she tried desperately to pull it down over her long legs. "Do I have to do this?" she pleaded, looking right at the camera.

She touched the shoulder straps of the low cut peach shirt and looked back up at me. "These don't do anything," she accused me.

"Of course not," I scoffed. "They're mainly there for decoration, duh."

Lissa scanned the room again. "Alright," she hung her head in defeat. "Who am I flirting with?"

I signalled Mason. "That guy over there," I made sure Mason saw the man I was pointing at. He winked at me and gave me thumbs up before disappearing into the crowd.

"That guy?" Lissa confirmed by pointing at the slightly balding middle aged man by the bar. "Really? Okay."

"You don't mind?" I asked in fake astonishment. I grabbed her arm and spun her around so she couldn't see Mason sneaking up to her target.

Lissa rolled her eyes. "Rose, I think it's going to be mortifying anyway. Whether I flirt with a cute guy or not doesn't matter to me."

Mason turned to me and gave me the thumbs up again as he slunk back into the crowd. I let go of Lissa's arm and shrugged.

"Okay," she squared her shoulders and started across the floor. I followed her closely, shielding the camcorder from swinging limbs as we moved across the dance floor.

When we were about a meter away from the man Lissa turned to me with a worried expression. "What?" I asked, training the camera on her face.

"How do I do this?" she whispered, her face going scarlet.

I laughed easily. "You know what, I think I should show you," I pressed pause and handed her the camera. "Watch me carefully." I picked out one of the cute guys on the edge of the dance floor and walked over to him.

I noticed Lissa was watching me intently and I smiled inwardly. She'd never be able to do it like I could. I'd had years of practice to perfect this technique and this was her first night.

"Hi," I said when I got close enough for him to hear me. The stranger spun around quickly and looked me up and down before he replied.

"Hey," he gave me a slightly drunk looking smile. Perfect.

"You wanna dance?" I asked motioning to the floor with a flirty smile.

"Yeah, sure," he didn't move.

"Let's go then!" I grabbed his hand and pulled him into the crowd.

"Nathan!" I heard a sharp slap and turned to see the guy I was towing cowering in front of a blonde woman.

"Oh, hey," I said feigning embarrassment. "I didn't realise he was taken."

"That's alright," the woman smiled at me. "He's just a dog. You shouldn't have wasted your time on him anyway," she glowered at Nathan.

I grinned at the woman and dropped Nathan's hand. "Yeah but they're all just dogs," I laughed. "Don't be too harsh on him, it was kind of my fault," the woman smiled at me again. I knew the tactic well and I'd made a heap of friends this way. All you had to do was hide any guilt or scorn and pretend you were a nice girl and the guy was a bastard. It was an easy way to get out of unwanted bitch fights.

I weaved my way back through the crowd to where Lissa was standing in shock.

"You didn't just leave him on the dance floor did you?" she asked incredulously.

"Of course not," I scoffed. "He had a girlfriend."

"Oh, okay," Lissa took a deep steadying breath. "Here's the camera. I better not see this on youtube or something."

"Relax," I moved behind her and spun her back to face her target. "Okay, just remember, you are a confident, sexy, beautiful woman and there's no way this guy is going to say no to you. If you know that, then the rest is in the bag. Go for it!"

Lissa nodded and moved on towards the bar and I quickly flipped open the video camera. Really, flirting was a subtle art but Lissa had the basics and her natural charisma so she should do well even without the finer details.

I filmed her walking calmly to the bar and ordering a drink. She seated herself right next to the man and he glanced up at her from his beer. I moved closer so I could hear any words that were passed between them over the loud music.

"Come on Lissa," I urged her quietly as I moved in closer behind them. I was praying that Lissa could keep his attention because if this guy turned around he'd swing right into the camcorder.

"Hey," Lissa spoke as though she'd just noticed him.

He grunted in response and stared back down at his half empty cup.

The bartender walked over and gave her the drink before moving down to the other people waiting for alcohol.

"What's your name?" the man asked roughly, looking up from his drink to squint at her.

"Lissa, what's yours?" she smiled at him, drawing him in with her natural charm.

"Randy," he grunted. "You're the girl I need to see right now."

Lissa shot me a startled look before returning her attention to Randy. "Why's that?" she asked curiously, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

He grinned at her and leaned in, whispering something in her ear that made her eyes grow wider and wider as I tried to stifle laughter. I zoomed in on her just as her mouth popped open and she leant back.

"Hit him!" I urged her, making a fist with my free hand. "Hit him!"

Sometimes I really wished Lissa was more violent. She took off from the bar like a frightened rabbit and ploughed straight through the dance floor and back to our tiny corner of the room where Hayley and Adrian were in hysterics. Mason was glowering, naturally. Whatever Adrian thought was funny was obviously beneath him.

I rolled my eyes and followed Lissa through the crowd, dodging people far more effectively than she had.

"Ew!" Lissa seemed to be trying to dust herself down. "Ew, ew, ew, ew, ew."

"What did he say?" I asked Mason, sidling up to him. He cracked a smile as Hayley and Adrian tried to sympathise with Lissa.

"I don't know," he grinned at me. "All I did was tell him that she liked men that talked dirty," he shrugged.

"Nice Mase, but try something else next time," I smiled. "We want to give her the variety. Though that was pretty priceless." I stroked the plastic covering the camcorder.

"Your next," I whispered to Hayley as I passed her. "I know, Lissa," I hugged my best friend. "Scarring, isn't it? Do you want to go after a nice looking, cute guy this time?"

"Are they any different?" she shuddered.

I nodded seriously. "Yeah, they are." I wondered if she noticed that I didn't specify whether they were better or worse.

"Okay. Pick one," she took another deep breath and gave me a pleading look. "Can this be the last one?"

"Three hours Lissa," I reminded her. I didn't need to tell her that I was starting to pity her. Lissa was way outside her comfort zone. More so than I had been. "That one," I pointed through the crowd to a younger looking guy sitting with his friends.

Hayley disappeared, ready to make catastrophes happen.

"You ready?" Adrian asked Lissa with a reassuring smile.

"Yeah," Lissa prepared herself again, taking deep calming breaths.

"Okay, let's go," I tugged her arm and we once again battled our way through the crowd of dancers. The camcorder was aimed at the ground as we battled through and I wondered what this would all look like when we watched it later. We'd probably label the tape 'scariest home videos'.

"Any tips?" she asked nervously. I laughed.

"None this time Liss, it's all up to you."

Hayley darted away from the table and gave me a frantic look.

"You dive right in there Lissa and I'll go talk to another cute guy," I let go of Lissa and moved to Hayley who was now waving desperately at me. I walked kind of like a crab, trying to keep the camera focused on Lissa all the time while walking to Hayley.

"What's up Hayley?" I asked when I could hear her over the music.

"They don't know!" she yelled at me.

"What? Who doesn't know what?"

"Those guys," she gestured frantically at the group Lissa was approaching. "You know how you told us always to tell the 'victims' that it was a prank? They don't know!"

I gasped in horror. "You mean Lissa's actually going to have to flirt with this guy?"

She nodded helplessly.

"No way!" I screamed. "She doesn't know what to do!"

"It's too late now!" Hayley pointed to the table where Lissa was already in the guys lap. I gritted my teeth and moved forward with the camera. I was an evil friend but I wasn't going to let Lissa humiliate herself like this…

Or was I?

I stopped dead in my tracks and ran through all possible arguments in my head I could feel Hayley right beside me, ready to jump in if I gave the 'help' signal.

"What's going on?" Adrian appeared at my shoulder.

"Lissa's gone off the plan," I told him.

"How?" Mason appeared just as suddenly. I guess the angry tension between the two of them got too much to bear.

Hayley told the whole sad story again and we all watched in horror as Lissa tried to genuinely flirt with a guy in the middle of a pack of his friends. I winced every time she did. I could almost feel how embarrassed she was. It was coming off her in tidal waves but she kept going.

"I'll admire her determination," Hayley yelled. She'd taken to blocking her ears with her fingers to drown out the loud music.

"Yeah," I replied. "She's always determined at the worst of times."

"Are you still filming this?" mason suddenly asked.

"Hell yeah," I turned to him. "Why'd you ask?"

He pointed over at the group and I spun quickly, just in time to see Lissa climb onto the table.

"What does she think she's doing?" I gasped.

"Dancing, obviously," Adrian said dryly. As indeed she was.

"Okay. This is officially the most embarrassing moment of _my_ life," Hayley turned around, no longer able to bear the spectacle unfolding before us. "If she's not embarrassed right now…" she shook her head.

"I'm right with you Hayley," I took the younger girl's hand but kept the camcorder on Lissa, focusing intently on my best friend. "You know I never knew she could dance," I commented to the guys.

"She's not bad, is she?" Adrian agreed.

Mason glared at Adrian again instead of replying. Lissa danced away on the table, much to the delight of the men sitting at it. She actually looked like she was enjoying herself though I knew there was some sensible part of her that was screaming 'What do you think you're doing?' With Lissa there always was.

Finally she finished here little number and was helped down off the table by two of the guys that were sitting there, including the one that she had flirted with. I filmed them talking for a few moments before he handed her a piece of paper and lightly kissed her cheek. Lissa ruined the 'confident, flirty girl' charade by turning scarlet. She grabbed another piece of paper and wrote something down – her phone number, I'd assume. She muttered something under her breath that made all of the guys laugh then she turned on her heel and made her way back through the dance floor.

"What was I thinking!" she wailed as she swooped down on where we were standing.

"Whatever could you mean?" Adrian asked mildly. "I thought it was a fine show of flirting."

She looked at us all in horror. "I was… dancing," she shuddered. "I danced! On the table! In front of a room full of people!"

"Technically not in front of a room full of people because only about eleven people were watching you," I amended.

"He gave me his phone number," she said, horror turning to shock. "Does that mean it worked?"

Adrian grinned lazily. "That's the general idea of flirting. Well don Lissa."

She stared for a moment, turning the paper over as if to see if it were real. Then a slow smile spread across her face. "Wow. This flirting thing isn't that hard after all."

I laughed and started across the dace floor, sick of shouting to be heard and sick of being bumped by surrounding dancers. "Yeah, yeah. Show off," I teased. I clicked the button on the camcorder and closed it up.

"That's it?!" Lissa gasped happily. "No more flirting?"

"Don't you want to keep flirting?" Mason asked with a wicked grin. "I though you said it was fun?"

"Easy," she corrected. "Not fun."

"You've given me one golden moment of embarrassment Lissa. Wait until I show this to everyone else," I snickered.

"You wouldn't," Lissa gasped.

I rolled my eyes. "What else are we supposed to be using the tapes for?"

She considered that for a moment. "Well I suppose I really do want to see everybody's faces when they see your tape," she giggled and pushed past a man who was trying to get her to stop and dance.

I made a face and walked up to the bar, ordering – though I should have known better – a vodka shot.

"You're not going to get drunk Rose," Lissa said disapprovingly.

"Fine, only one little drink."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hayley nodded patiently and walked me through the door. "Yes, I know Rose. I was there," she reminded me.

The lobby was spinning at an alarming rate. "You better stop the world," Adrian slurred from behind me. "It's gone into overdrive."

"Yeah," I agreed with a giggle. "You'd better."

"I'll do that Rose," Hayley guided me to the elevator. "Adrian why did you have to encourage her to have another drink?"

"I didn't," Adrian exclaimed as he fell into the elevator behind me. "She wanted to have another one. All I did was suggest it."

Lissa walked into the elevator along side us, shaking her head. She wasn't nearly as drunk looking as Adrian but I knew she'd had a few shots.

"You're going to have a really shit hang over in the morning," I pointed out with another hysterical giggle. "Why am I acting this way?"

"Because you drank to much Rose," Lissa smiled at Hayley as she left and pressed a button.

"I said that out loud?"

"Yeah," Adrian assured me. "You did."

"Fuck…"

"You two," Lissa sighed heavily.

"Uh-oh," Adrian patted his pockets down.

"What 'uh-oh'?" I demanded suspiciously.

He looked at me with big eyes. "I lost my keys."

"That's all right, you can stay with us," I offered brightly. Somewhere behind the fog in my head a horn was sounding.

"Rose, you say the silliest things when you're drunk," Lissa told me, giggling.

"I'm serious," I told her, leaning against the wall. "And I'm not that drunk. Just… tipsy."

"You always say that," she muttered, staring at the elevator doors. "Come on," the dinging sound announced our arrival on the sixth floor.

My legs were slightly jelly like as I moved to the door, pulling out my key. "Come on, Adrian," I gestured. "You can stay with us tonight." I aimed my key at the door and pushed forward. "Hey, did you guys see that!" I exclaimed.

"Yes, Rose," Lissa sighed. "You missed the key hole."

"I did not," I said indignantly. "It moved out of the way. Watch."

I moved forward again, stabbing desperately at the door.

"See!" I exclaimed. "See!"

"Here Rose, let me do that," Lissa moved forward and unlocked the door easily. "Now come inside," Adrian stumbled in after me.

"You shouldn't have drank so much," I told him sternly. "You're not a fish."

"Neither are you but the important thing is that we try," he told me sombrely.

"You can sleep on the couch," I pointed. "I'll get you a blanket."

"No, Rose," Lissa took my arm and guided me up the hall to my bedroom. "You go to sleep and I'll handle Adrian, okay?"

"You do realise that could be a sex innuendo?" I asked her seriously.

"Yes Rose, I know," she led me into my room and the last thing I remember was falling onto my incredibly soft bed next to Iolanthi and watching the room spin counter clockwise until I fell asleep.

**Review! Review!**


	8. Speaking Softly

**Heyo, I'm not updating the ninth chapter. Ha ha! I personally love this chapter, it's been in my head for so long... hope you enjoy!**

**Chapter 8 – Speaking Softly**

I was dreaming a very pleasant dream about a sunny day and a long stretch of brand name stores when I became aware of the throbbing pain in the centre of my skull. As I woke up more and more the pain seemed to spread until my whole head felt like it was a bongo and someone was playing a really bad tune.

"Nooo…" I moaned, flipping over onto my stomach and burying my face in my pillow. A rough, wet tongue scraped over my ear and I cracked an eye open to see Iolanthi, standing on my pillow. I didn't see a lot more because suddenly my curtains were ripped open and bright light streamed into my room.

"Wake up Rose!" Lissa was standing at the edge of my bed, spatula in hand as she smiled sweetly at me.

"Too loud," I whispered, blinking away tears from the fast lighting change. "Speak really quietly."

"Rose I'm going out," she sat on the end of my double bed and I felt Iolanthi walk over to her. "I thought I'd try for another job. Clubs aren't my thing so I'm going to the library –"

"No," I lifted my head and pressed a finger to my lips. "Shh… You'll wake the dead at that volume."

"You're already awake," she stated mildly as she stood and left the room.

"Ha-ha," I muttered as the door closed softly behind her. I buried my face in my pillow again for a few moments, breathing in the faint scent of shampoo and perfume. I'd decided when I'd turned sixteen that vodka was a drink I should never have again but I really couldn't help it. When the vodka was on offer how could I pass up the chance to get that drunk?

With a groan I pushed myself off the bed and slowly stood on the soft cream carpet. I tip toed to my door aware that with every step my head pounded a little harder. It felt as though my brain were trying to escape my skull by battering its way through. I stumbled out of my room and made my way to the bathroom, rubbing sleep from my eyes carefully.

I swung into the bathroom, holding onto the doorframe for support and glanced around the small, tiled room. The mirror showed me standing there, in the clothes I'd worn last night, bleary eyed and knotty haired. I groaned when I realised my hair brush was back in my room. I shut the door and made my way back down the thankfully silent hallway, past the lounge and right back into my bedroom. On my bedside table was my purse and a necklace Lissa had given me for my eighteenth birthday but no hair brush.

"Where are you?" I whimpered desperately as I turned and stumbled back down the hall. I visited the laundry room first and glanced around the sparkling clean room before spinning on my heel and stepping into the lounge room. "Yes," I muttered, casting my eyes heavenward through reflex. My hair brush was on the edge of the marble kitchen counter top and I almost skipped towards it, overjoyed that I'd found my brush with minimal noise. I snatched at the brush and lifted it from the bench before I realised that my grip was flimsy. I watched in slow motion horror as the metal side of the brush fell straight for the tiles, only thinking about how much noise that was going to make when it hit the floor.

"ARGH!" the crash was followed by a quick slap when Adrian yelled which ended with both of us clutching our heads.

"Asshole," I spat venomously. "What are you doing in my apartment?"

Adrian was still wincing from the cacophony of noises that had just sounded. "I don't know, I was invited I guess," he flinched when I raised my hand threateningly.

I didn't get the chance to hit him because the phone rang at the worst of times. I sighed quietly and walked quickly to the phone taking it off the cradle and holding it gingerly to my ear. "Yes?"

Lissa giggled on the other end of the line. "Hey Rose. I guess you've found Adrian?"

"Yes," I answered huffily. "I found him alright."

"You're not allowed to kick him out."

"What?!" Adrian and I winced in unison. "Why not?"

"Because you invited him in," she said smugly.

"As if," I scoffed. "Like I'd ever invite Adrian in. Nice try Liss," I snickered and went to place the phone back on the cradle.

"Rose! Wait!" I put the phone back to my ear as she continued. "You're still not allowed to kick him out."

I rolled my eyes, ignoring the light stabbing pains. "I know, mum, I know," I hung up and turned to Adrian, putting my hands on my hips. "No freaky shit," I pointed menacingly at him. "I mean it."

He grinned angelically at me. "Of course not, my ocean pearl."

"Didn't I tell you to stop with the damned corny lines?" I scowled angrily. "I'll kick you out if you're not careful."

"Sorry," he smirked. "I'll just lie here and sleep for a little longer," he fluttered his long, pale fingers toward the hallway. "You do whatever you need to do."

He closed his eyes and settled back into the couch but I watched him suspiciously as I edged my way over to the hallway entrance. He opened one eye and gave me a reassuring grin, fluttering his fingers again. "You just stay there," I ordered distrustfully. He nodded and dropped his hand onto his chest and gave a show of snoring as I moved away. As soon as I was behind the shelter of the wall I ran quietly to the bathroom, gently closing the door behind me. I quickly pulled the brush through my hair and turned on the hot water in the shower. As I hurriedly brushed my teeth I watched the door apprehensively, waiting for the moment when Adrian would sneak into the room to try and catch a glimpse of me naked. I wouldn't put it past him. After a few moments the temptation of warm water to wash away the sweat from the night club and the alcohol I was sure someone had spilled on me got to be too much and I stripped off and stood under the water.

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"ADRIAN!"

There was silence as the screech echoed through the apartment.

"YOU BASTARD! BRING BACK MY TOWEL!" I stood, shivering in the cold tiled room, spinning in circles and searching desperately for the one thing I couldn't find.

"Come and get it Rose. Or are you to scared?" I could hear the smirk in his voice.

"FUCK YOU!" I screamed back, hugging myself tightly.

There was a long pause. "Was that an offer?"

I groaned in frustration and lightly touched my head to the wall. I would have loved to hit it a little harder in a show of frustration but my hangover was still marching it's way through my head, banging the drums as loud as it could. I grumbled as I crept to the door and poked my head out. Adrian wasn't anywhere I could see so he must have hidden in one of the various rooms. I wasn't sure if this classified as 'freaky shit' but it was really irritating.

"Come on Rose," he taunted. I couldn't place the direction of the sound because of my headache but I knew he was somewhere in the damned apartment. I pulled my head back in and glanced desperately around the bathroom again, looking for anything that I could wrap around myself so I could go kick his soon-to-be sorry ass.

I was faced with three options. One, stay here in the bathroom until Lissa came home. Two, Go out there and face him, clothes or not. Three, go looking for more clothes. Number three seemed to be the better option so I once again stuck my head around the door. I would be able to tell which room he was in by looking at the doors. Lissa and I always closed our doors just in case Iolanthi went in without us knowing and got locked in. The laundry door was always open because that's where the cat litter was. My jaw dropped when I saw that all the doors were open. Adrian could be hiding in any one of them.

The laundry room seemed to be the safest bet so I dashed across the hallway and flung myself into the laundry, half closing the door behind me. I surveyed the room in despair, remembering that Lissa had probably done the washing this morning before I'd woken up. Iolanthi sat on the washing machine, eyeing me speculatively. She mewed softly at me and I quickly lifted my finger to my lips.

"Didn't Lissa feed you?" I hissed. I looked down at her full feed bowl. I pointed angrily at the floor. "Eat," I hissed again, sidling back to the door and glancing outside. Straight across the hallway I could see the lounge room. Draped over the back of the couch was one of the blankets Adrian had obviously used last night. I clasped my hands together quickly and forgave God for making Mason look under that desk in the library.

I tiptoed into the hallway and glanced into my bedroom. I could barely see the end of my bed from where I was standing and I could see Adrian's feet crossed on my spare blanket. I shook my fist in his direction then focused back on my prize.

"Go on Rose," I encouraged myself, placing my hand on the door frame and preparing to launch myself into the lounge. "You can do it."

"Rose?" I heard Adrian shifting in my room and froze up in horror.

"Do it!" I hissed at myself as I flung myself across the room. I sprinted, butt naked to the lounge the furthest away from the hallway, dodging the coffee table and the other couch to reach it. I snagged the blanket off the back of the couch and waved it victoriously above my head, dancing a little as I grinned stupidly over my prize.

I should have known better.

"Um…"

I spun around, ready to give Adrian hell for stealing my towel. I didn't even notice that I was turning to face the front door until I saw him, standing there, his hand poised as if to knock on the already open door. He was blatantly staring at me and suddenly I realised that I was still standing there, scowling murderously, quilt above my head, dripping water, but most importantly, completely naked.

**How many of you can guess?**


	9. Meeting Dimitri

**Yay! New chapter! Right, I know this was really ultra obvious but this particular scene was in my rough draft of a different fanfic and I just had to put this in.**

**Yeah, I got four reviews for the last chapter... I feel so unloved. But thanks to ems, rosemarie17, natzz and ShadowKissed17.**

**Chapter 9 – Meeting Dimitri**

"Uh, hi," I managed. I could feel blood rising to my cheeks and silently thanked God that I didn't turn red the way Lissa did. There would be a faint pink tinge on my cheeks from the shower so hopefully the next coat wouldn't make much of a difference.

The stranger didn't reply, he just stood there and watched me. There wasn't a moment his brown eyes left mine or a moment when his expression changed. He seemed almost frozen, as though he didn't dare move.

I knew I was still holding the blanket above my head and I let my arm drop, not able to muster up enough will power to wrap the damned thing around me. It pooled to the ground at my feet as I gripped it with one hand.

This would have been so much less embarrassing if he wasn't hot. And damn he was hot. His hair was tied at the back of his neck but little strands had escaped the band and were falling into his eyes. He was way taller than me, by about a foot, making him about six six or six seven. I didn't quite understand the relevance of long brown coat he wore but it seemed to add to his hotness in some weird way. We waited in silence and stared at each other, neither of us moving an inch from where we stood.

One word would break the spell and the sudden, embarrassed tension we were standing in. if one of us moved I wasn't sure what would happen but I was sure it would be even more embarrassing. A small part of me wanted to take the chance and run and hide in some small, dark, long forgotten corner of the world and never come out again but another, more daring side of me wanted to stand here and see if he would look me over, at least once if I waited long enough.

"Rose?" Adrian called. The spell that immobilized us broke and I hastily pulled up the blanket, but not before his eyes travelled down my body. My blush became more pronounced as I turned to the hall way even though my daring side was celebrating smugly.

"What Adrian?!" I snapped angrily. If I'd thought Mason finding me under that desk was embarrassing… God was now officially unforgiven.

"What're you…?" he trailed off when he walked into the lounge room and saw me and the attractive stranger in a face off. I knew I was now blushing furiously and I hoped I could pass it off as anger rather than embarrassment. I felt the heat radiating from my face as though I'd become a miniature sun, orbiting the galaxy of humiliation and annoyance.

"Oh… hey," he said to the stranger. "Um… this is probably a bit awkward," he laughed and casually moved forward to where I stood.

"Just a bit," I fumed.

"Sorry, oh joy of my heart," he grinned at me and winked. I don't think anybody noticed my eye roll and scornful expression. "Yeah, sorry," he nodded to the stranger. "What's up?"

"I…" he hesitated. "I was wondering, does Lissa Dragomir live here?"

I almost swooned when I heard his voice, laced with a faint Russian accent.

"Yeah, she does," I replied before Adrian could. "She's out right now."

He gave me a small, half smile that filled my stomach with butterflies.

"What do you need to see her for?" Adrian asked, glancing suspiciously between us.

"It's actually kind of complicated," he brushed away the loose strands of hair. "But she danced for my friend last night and he'd like to see her again," he smiled again.

"Oh, that," I smiled with him. "Were you there?"

He shook his head. "No, I wasn't but I was roped into doing this as a favour for him," he smiled mockingly at the floor.

"We can pass the message on….?" Adrian interjected.

"Dimitri," he supplied. "Dimitri Belikov."

I'm not really sure but I think I sighed dreamily because Adrian gave me a strange look.

"We'll pass on the message," Adrian said shortly. "Bye."

"Goodbye," he smiled again and left, leaving the door open behind him.

"He's nice," I commented to Adrian.

"Yeah," he replied shortly, storming to the door and slamming it shut. We both winced at the loud noise.

"Did you have to slam it?" I demanded.

"Did you have to flirt with him?" Adrian fumed.

"I did not flirt!" I said huffily. "At all. And if I did that's none of your business."

He glared at me. "None of my business? Maybe you're right and it isn't but you were flirting. What's with the blanket? Did you walk out here wearing that when he knocked?"

"No," I retorted. "For your information I did not."

"Good," he huffed. He turned away from me then suddenly flipped around, his expression shocked. "Wait, what? What were you wearing then?"

I scowled at him. "Go home and use your imagination. I'm sure you do it quite a lot."

I opened the door and motioned him out.

"Go on!" I told him. "Get out of my apartment."

Adrian reluctantly walked outside the apartment and then turned to look at me, half angry half apologetic.

"And don't tell me how to run my life!" I snapped before I slammed the door in his face. "For heaven's sake what is it with these men?" I asked quietly. I stalked away from the door and into my room, changing from blanket to jeans and baggy shirt in record time. I walked back out into the lounge room and threw myself huffily onto the couch, flipping the power switch on the remote and watching as the T.V sparked into life.

Adrian knocked rapidly on the door.

"Piss off!" I almost yelled as I ran to the door and yanked it open to reveal a stunned looking Lissa with a bag under her arm. "Oh it's you."

"Who were you expecting?" she asked in shock. She walked through the door and straight into the kitchen, dropping her bag on the counter. A soft meow alerted us both to the fact that Iolanthi was with us. "Hey baby girl," Lissa squealed.

"Not so loud," I told her quickly. "and I was expecting Adrian."

Lissa studied me for a moment as she stroked Iolanthi. "Are you alright Rose?" she asked, studying me carefully.

"Yeah, why?" I asked, slightly out of breath.

She shrugged. "You look pissed off. And you kicked Adrian out."

My laughter had a hard, annoyed edge to it. "Yeah. Adrian's got a problem with me flirting with other men and he stole my towel. I had pretty good reasons for throwing him out," I smiled at her. "And uh, we had a visitor," I leaned against the counter.

"Oh?" Lissa raised her eye brows.

"Yup," I nodded vigorously. "Your, ah, 'friend' from last night wants to see you again."

Lissa paused and slowly lowered Iolanthi onto the bench. "Friend?" she asked suspiciously.

"Yup. You danced for him last night."

"Oh," Lissa blushed profusely and busied herself by opening the bag.

I grinned. "What's his name Liss?"

"I think it was Jason," she blushed again. "He wants to see me?"

"Yup," I nodded and jumped up onto the counter. Iolanthi wormed her way onto my lap.

Lissa had a familiar look in her eyes. It was the look of utter panic she always got when a guy asked her out.

"Breathe Lissa. He's not actually here," I giggled. Lissa could easily hold her own once she'd actually talked with a guy. Before that she was always jumpy though. I remembered her first boyfriend ever, a guy named Aaron that was more like her stalker than her boyfriend. She'd fallen over herself when she'd first heard that he liked her and then when she came face to face with him she was unnaturally calm.

Lissa took a deep steadying breath and reached into the bag she was holding, pulling out three apples and putting one in front of me and putting the other two in a bowl we had decided was solely for fruit and keys. "You're right. I just won't think about it."

I opened my mouth to tell her about the Russian stranger, Dimitri Belikov, but decided against it at the last moment. I felt like there was going to be a bigger thrill if she didn't know. I smiled and picked up the apple, making my way back to the couch with another meeting in mind.

**Dammit people! It's a button! Click it!**


	10. Swiss Cheese III

**So, how many people read authors notes?**

**Chapter 10 – Swiss Cheese III**

"_Come on Liss, step on it!" I encouraged._

_Lissa glared at me then gestured violently at the heavy traffic. She was losing her cool between the terrible traffic and my yelling. I took a hint and shut my mouth, staring silently out the window._

"_I don't know why you want to go 'get drunk' anyway," Lissa fumed, shifting in her seat._

_I grinned and shook my head. "Lissa, you're so naive. You tend to do fun things when you get drunk, it's the entire purpose of alcohol."_

"_What happened to drinking in moderation?"_

"_Lissa," I scoffed. "Moderation doesn't mean alcoholic chastity. When was the last time you had a drink?"_

"_On my last date with Aaron," she replied confidently._

_I rolled my eyes. "Oh, yeah. A glass of wine, right? I meant when did you last have a_ real_ drink? Something that had you completely pissed?"_

_She stared at me. "Last year, when you took me out for my birthday," she replied flatly. "And as I recall I didn't remember any of that night and I had a terrible hangover the next day. It doesn't sound like much fun to me."_

_I rolled my eyes again. "I'll just have to show you how much fun it can be. Now step on it!"_


	11. Meet My Dad

**I officially love everyone that reviewed. Thankyou!**

**Try not to be too shocked… I can't handle people screaming at me from half way across the world. If indeed, you are half way across the world. Yes, I actually **_**like**_** the VA character that turns up in this chapter…**

**Chapter 11 – Meet My Dad**

"No," I groaned sleepily. "You can't make me."

Lissa sighed for the sixth time and repeated the words she'd said at least seven times. "You're already in the car, Rose."

For at least the seventh time I glanced around myself in surprise, barely registering the tan upholstered seats and focusing on the fact that I was only wearing my pyjama shorts and my favourite baggy t-shirt. I groaned again as the car flew over a bump in the road.

"No," I groaned again. "I don't want to."

"You're going Rose," Lissa said sternly.

"Why?" I wailed, throwing my head in my hands. "Can't he come to me?"

"The doctor is busy Rose," she explained placidly. "We made an appointment and now we have to go."

I think it was four in the afternoon but I wouldn't know. I'd been asleep for the past week or so, sniffing and coughing and running doubled over to the bathroom every twenty seconds. Time wasn't important to me anymore. I was too sick to care about anything but when the headaches and vomiting would stop. And for all that, I didn't look as bad as I felt. I was more annoyed than pleased by that. Mostly because nobody that was worth looking good for had come over. So I was left looking healthy and happy when I felt like I was on the verge of death. Another pothole resulted in me being bounced to far from my seat for my head to take it.

"Pills," I moaned. Lissa bent down and grabbed the small bottle of medicine from her purse and threw it at me. "Thanks," I muttered. Over the last few weeks I'd become a master at dry swallowing the worst kinds of pills and I threw these ones down without even thinking.

"You can make it Rose," Lissa encouraged, repeating her words from last week.

"Yeah," I mumbled my standard response to her sickening good cheer.

"We're almost there."

"Yay."

Lissa glanced at me disapprovingly. "You have to be nice, okay? Rose?"

I closed my eyes and rested my head against the window, faking sleep and praying she would leave me alone on the subject. Being nice wasn't my style. At least not lately. Hayley had visited a few times, leaving my chocolates that I suspected were actually from Mason. Adrian had delivered chocolates first and it seemed to have triggered the jealous side in Mason. I was practically swamped in chocolate now as the boys continued their weird and frightful chocolate wars. All of the chocolates were stacked in a pile next to my bed where Iolanthi could throw herself at the small bundle and watch it crashing down. I was glad someone was getting enjoyment from my presents, even if I was lying on my death bed and cursing my benefactors.

"Rose," Lissa nudged me gently and I ignored her. "Rose!"

"What?" I asked irritably. I immediately felt bad for using that tone with her.

"We're here," she nudged me again. "Come on," she encouraged. I groaned and heard the snap as my seat belt came undone and I fumbled for the door handle in my miserable state.

"I wish I was in a coma," I muttered as the door fell open and I stumbled into the bright light of the afternoon. "Noo," I moaned shielding my eyes as Lissa led me to the doors. "Do I have to go?"

"Yes, Rose," she said placidly. "You have to go."

Lissa half guided half pulled me toward the door, supporting me the whole way as I slumped in protest and exhaustion. "I don't want to," I mumbled as she pushed open the door.

"Hello," the receptionist glanced up at Lissa and I, then did a double take as she saw my best friend literally dragging me through the half opened door.

"Keep looking," I threatened darkly. Lissa jabbed my ribs and smiled warmly at the now startled girl.

"Ignore her, she's delirious."

"Stop telling people that! The voices have told me I'm perfectly fine," I smiled smugly at Liss who rolled her eyes.

"No, really," she assured the receptionist, "She's just –"

The chair behind the front desk was empty and Lissa frowned at me and shook her head.

"What?" I asked innocently.

"Hello," A blonde man walked through a door at the far end of the room. "Who are you?"

I almost face-planted the carpet when Lissa shot across the room to greet the stranger. I wished in that moment that I was a dog so I could whine at annoying loud level until she remembered I was dying.

"Hello, I'm Vasilisa Dragomir, this is Rosemarie Hathaway," Lissa smiled charmingly at the man and gestured behind herself at me, glaring daggers.

"Ah," the man smiled suddenly. He introduced himself but I couldn't be bothered listening to anything he said to Lissa. It could have been about the weather for all I cared. I just wanted to be cured already!

"Come this way," he gestured through the door and smiled. I didn't like that smile. It made him look like a predator. I proceeded to run through a horror film in my head.

_The suspicious prey stumbled after its unsuspecting partner, warily watching the keen eyed predator as he swung the door wide to reveal his lair. The two walked into the pristine whiteness, the second completely unaware that it was a trap. The first, however, watched every movement the young prowler made, just in case a movement was threatening. BAM! It was too late to run, the door had closed. The first prepared to fight…_

"So what's up doc?" I asked casually.

The doctor smiled charmingly at me and motioned to a seat leaning against the wall. "Please…" he studied his clip board. "Rosemarie, sit down."

"It's Rose," I said stiffly. I sat on the very edge of the seat and watching the corners of the room suspiciously.

"Of course, Rose," he corrected himself. He smiled at me again and I shifted uneasily. "Are you comfortable?"

"Yeah," I muttered darkly.

His smile never faltered even though my voice was cold. "So what are the symptoms?" he clapped his hands together and looked between Lissa and me.

"Irritability," Lissa volunteered quickly.

"That's a side effect of having annoying friends," I snarled.

"Headaches, vomiting, stomach cramps," Lissa continued rattling off the list of all the things that had been wrong with me during the past week. I rolled my eyes and leaned back into my chair, overdramatically stating how bad I felt.

"She doesn't look sick," the doctor commented, leaning in to study me.

I glared dangerously and he leaned back slightly, but still, the annoying charming smile remained fixed on his face.

"I know I don't look sick," I snapped, staring moodily around me. "But I feel sick. And you better back up buddy before I vomit on you."

The doctor moved back at a faster rate and went to sit safely behind his desk. Liss selected the seat next to me and smiled happily at him.

"I think she's getting better," she commented. "Normally she seems angry."

I would have beamed at her comment but the compliment was ruined by the fact that her elbow was buried in my ribs. "What the Hell!" I shrieked, standing up to glare at her.

"Sit down Rose," Lissa hissed, yanking me back down into my seat. I didn't fight her. I was so weak right now I don't think I'd be able to fight anyone. Besides, I was actually feeling a little more sick since we walked in here. It might have had something to do with the blinding cleanliness of the place. I was contemplating how it would look with vomit coloured walls when somebody knocked on the door.

The assistant poked her head through the door and gave me a wary look. She carefully walked through the door and went to stand behind he doctor, bending down to whisper something in his ear. The action seemed almost intimate somehow and I used my sixth sense to pick up on the romance between them. Or at least, there was romance on her side. He didn't seem too interested. I studied the assistant carefully. She wasn't bad looking but she wasn't a real beauty. She was just average. Nice looking…

"Thankyou," the doc said shortly. The woman stood and smiled nervously at Lissa and I before she left the room, shooting flirty glances at the doc as she went.

"Subtle," I whispered Lissa. She gave me a small smile. Well actually, it was more like a lip twitch but it seemed to be a positive response.

"I'm terribly sorry, I have to go and meet someone," he stood from his chair and left the room, not saying another word to either me or Liss.

"So," I turned to Lissa and drummed my fingers on my arm rest. "What do we do now? Can we go home yet?"

Lissa glanced sideways at me. "He didn't tell us to leave, did he? We stay."

I groaned overdramatically and let myself fall backwards into the chair, pulling my knees up to my chin.

"You're sick Rose," Lissa stressed, the worry in her voice almost convincing me. "You need to get better."

"He isn't making me any better," I grumbled, brushing a stray strand of hair out of my eyes. "I don't like him."

"You've never liked doctors," Lissa told me, touching my arm. "They do actually help you, you know."

"No they don't. All they do is charge you some insane amount of money so they can look at you and tell you you're sick. Great! A two year old could do that Liss. And they need doctorates," I scoffed and gestured at the framed pieces of paper hanging on the white walls.

The door opened again and the doc stepped through, smiling an overly cheerful smile directed right at me. "You can leave now," he said abruptly.

Lissa looked at me quickly and then turned her startled eyes to the doctor. "What's wrong with Rose?"

"She's sick," he supplied airily. Even I was shocked. I mean, normally they specified what kind of sick. "A flu, by the looks of it. Just let her sleep."

"She's been sleeping for a week!" Lissa was using her 'social injustice' tone and her voice was dropping lower and lower. "She hasn't gotten better yet."

He smiled charmingly again. "Well, I'm sorry but I can't do anything about that."

Lissa looked really upset at the news. I didn't really give a damn but hey, he'd made Lissa worry and I'd been wanting to do this since I walked in.

I stood and walked over to the doc, bringing back my fist then snapping it back in his face. It wasn't a very good punch, considering most of my normal strength had been drained away but it was hard enough to make his head snap backwards and lose his balance. He staggered back into the door spectacularly and then turned his big blue eyes on me, completely astonished.

"Wow," I grinned at him. "I feel really good."

Lissa restrained her laughter behind me, putting her good humour behind her calm façade and apologising profusely to the good doctor.

My eyes wondered out the door and through the lobby window where people were hurrying through the speckling rain and thought about how I would give anything to be out there right now.

"Hi," a smooth voice broke through my trance and I turned to see a guy about my age staring at me. He was staring at me in the appreciative way I'd come to recognise. He wasn't bad looking. Not bad looking at all.

"Hi," I replied, pushing away any thoughts about how sick I was.

He gestured me outside to where he was, in the lobby. Without hesitation I left the bright confines of the doctors office, Lissa's rambling apologies to the doctor and giggles faded in the back of my head.

"I'm Rose," I introduced myself quickly, appraising him from a closer angle. He was _really_ good looking…

"I'm Jesse," he grinned easily at me. "Dr. Zeklos is my dad," he gestured to the doc who was still on the floor, clutching at his face and moaning. "Nice punch."

I gave a flirty laugh. "Thanks."

I noted the resemblances between Jesse and his dad, the same shade of blonde hair, the same blue eyes. That seemed to be where the resemblances ended. I could work with that.

"You hit doctors often?" he asked pleasantly. "Or more importantly, do you hit their sons often?"

"If you're looking for a demonstration I can't help you, I don't have another punch in me right now," I grinned in response.

He laughed lightly. "That's okay, I think I can do without right now. Do you wanna go get something to eat?"

I was a little taken aback at his abruptness but I didn't let it show. "Sorry Jesse," I smiled. "I've got a friend I have to take home," I gestured to Lissa, on her knees next to the doctor and talking comfortingly while trying to hold back her laughter.

"She's a pretty friend," he commented. I turned to him suspiciously. "But I prefer brunettes," the smile he gave me was even more charming than his father's and it was no where near irritating.

"Don't try and flatter me," I said playfully. I gathered Jesse was all for the straightforward approach. "I'd have to take you back to my place and I've already got a roomie."

His smile grew as I flirted and he winked at me. "Pity."

"Jesse," the doc was on his feet again and glaring daggers at me. "Come here."

Jesse gave me a small smile and sauntered over to his father. I studied the way he moved in an almost clinically detached way. This guy was hot.

"Come on Lissa," I sang, eyeing up my best friend. "We have to go home."

Lissa watched me suspiciously but walked to my side any way. I waved at the doc and smiled at Jesse before Lissa led me out the door.

"What happened?" she asked immediately.

"What ever could you mean Liss?" I asked happily.

"You went in there moody and came out happy."

"I punched a guy in the face Lissa," I told her sagely. "That always makes me feel better. A lot better than his crappy medicine."

She sighed. "I have to state the obvious. It was something to do with that guy, wasn't it?"

"Yup. This city seems to have a thing for good looking guys," I commented thoughtfully.

"What?" Lissa asked, pulling me to our car. "You mean you think Adrian is good looking?"

"I know Adrian is good looking," I admitted. "I just don't like the rest of him."

Lissa got into the drivers seat and I sat next to her. "I thought you liked bad boys," she smirked as she started the car.

I grinned. "Bad to a point. And not annoying. Adrian's got a great personality if you don't like personal space and have no opinions."

Lissa laughed as we peeled out of the car park and started back home. "You can be so mean sometimes. I have to work this afternoon," she added abruptly.

"In the library?" I asked teasingly. "What, you found a hot guy or someth– uuuuuuuugghh," I doubled over in the seat. "I thought I was getting better," I whispered to myself. "Damn you body!"

"Are you all right Rose?" Lissa asked frantically, I could hear the clicking of the indicator and feel the car swerving to the side of the road.

"Fine, fine," I muttered angrily. "Just sick. When I get home I'd better feel good again."

Lissa seemed to calm down some because she turned off the indicator and swerved back into the middle of the road. "You scared me," she laughed. "I thought you'd been shot or something."

I mumbled an incoherent response and closed my eyes, willing sleep to come. "Liss," I whispered, just before I dropped off. "Do you mind not waking me up when we get back home?"

I wasn't awake long enough to hear her reply.

**Hee-hee. Do ya hate me? Do ya? I love Jesse, I think he's an awesome b*****d. But never fear! Dimitri will return!**

**Review!**


	12. I Want Your Hands On Me

**It's up! I wasn't really sure about this chapter so it went through a lot of editing and now… it's done! I hope you like it.**

**Chapter 12 – I Want Your Hands On Me.**

"Shit," I muttered again, rolling my shoulders. "That was so dumb."

Lissa watched me from the kitchen, apathetically cutting up carrots for some kind of stew. "You told me to leave you there."

"I was delirious," I complained.

"I'd love to see a delirious Rose," Adrian commented to Lissa, letting himself into our apartment. "She probably acts drunk."

"Shut up Ivashkov," I snapped, still rubbing the back of my neck. "You'll never see me delirious or drunk. Again."

Adrian grinned lazily and sauntered over to where I sat on the couch, trying to massage the kinks out of my neck. "I'm sure I will," he corrected. "You seem like the kind of person that can't resist the allures of alcohol."

I glared at him, half irritated that I wasn't sick enough to vomit on him anymore. It had only been a few hours since the doctor visit and my flu had died down enough that it was now only a minor irritability. If indeed, it was the flu at all. It was amazing what a simple doctor's visit could do for a person. "Liss, can we throw him out?" I complained.

Lissa sighed but didn't say anything. She had to get to work in half an hour and she seemed pretty anxious to be gone. It wasn't like we needed the money or anything. Lissa's family had been super rich before her parents and older brother died in a car crash. She had inherited quite a lot of money and a really cool beachside mansion that she refused to live in.

"So, when Lissa's gone do you want to come over to my apartment or should I stay here?" Adrian whispered conspiratorially.

"Keep your dreams in your pants, Adrian," I snapped.

"Aw Rose, I'm hurt!" he mocked. "Besides, I only wanted to see if you really could withstand the calling of vodka. Or whiskey, I have some of that," he smirked at me. "I'm insulted that you should think my reasons for wanting you in my apartment and preferably in my bedroom are so unchivalrous."

I rolled my eyes at him. "Unchivalrous should be your middle name," I muttered. "Along with perverted prick."

Adrian laughed and moved his fingers to the back of my neck, pushing my hands out of the way. "Here, just let me do it Rose. It looks like you're going to inflict more pain than you'll relieve."

I almost pushed his hands out of the way but he was right. I did lean more towards the violent side, even if it was by accident. I accepted the help with a small mumble of: "No freaky shit."

Adrian chuckled and continued massaging the back of my neck for me.

**Mason P.O.V**

"Wow Adrian, you're really good with your hands," I heard Rose mutter. I froze, my hand poised to knock on the door. I snapped my eyes to Hayley who shrugged at me. We both leaned in closer to the door.

**Rose P.O.V**

Adrian grinned triumphantly. "Aw, thanks Rose."

"Yeah, no problem," I muttered, horrified that I'd actually commented Adrian. "Lissa could use this too." Maybe it would massage her edginess away. If I didn't know better I'd say she wanted to meet a guy… But it was Liss! As if she'd be meeting a guy. Especially in a library.

"I can do her," he shrugged. "I have time. How about it Lissa?"

Lissa glanced over to us and shook her head with a rueful smile. "No thanks, I have o go to work. But you can come back later Adrian."

"Sure."

**Mason P.O.V**

I listened in horror to the transpiring conversation. What the hell was going on?! I turned to Hayley. She nodded at me, her eyes wide and we both pressed our ears back to the door.

"You see, I'm much better at this than you would have thought," I heard Adrian's smug voice.

Rose… moaned?!

**Rose P.O.V**

I moaned in despair and dropped my head into my hands. I would have to admit it. "Yes, you're good," I conceded.

Adrian gave me a proud smile and pulled his fingers away. "Okay Rose, tell me if this hurts," he began poking the back of my neck gently, looking for the sorest spot, no doubt.

**Mason P.O.V**

My mind spun in endless circles as I tried to think of something else – anything else – that they could be talking about. It wasn't Rose's first time, how did he think he could hurt her? What was Adrian doing to my Rose?!

**Rose P.O.V**

"Ouch!" I exclaimed, grabbing his finger and pulling it away from my neck. "Watch where you stick that thing!"

**Mason P.O.V**

No…

**Rose P.O.V**

Adrian sighed impatiently. "Well it's not my fault Rose," he stressed. "I thought you would know that holding a position like that for too long would hurt you."

**Mason P.O.V**

What position?! What damn position?!

**Rose P.O.V**

"I was tired," I muttered grumpily as he put his hand on the back of my neck again.

"You know what would make this feel so much better?" he commented, rubbing my neck. "Some oil or something."

**Mason P.O.V**

I gasped in horror as I heard Adrian's lewd suggestion and recoiled from the door as though it were on fire.

"What are they doing?" I hissed to Hayley.

Hayley was completely pale and she shrugged in response, her green eyes wide as we listened intently for the next words.

**Rose P.O.V**

"Um… wow," I stared at the tube of had cream Adrian had triumphantly returned with. "That's big," and it was. It was huge. I didn't even know where Adrian had found that. I didn't know if there was a shelf in the place that could hold that much hand cream.

**Mason P.O.V**

Rose had 'wow'-ed. All was lost.

**Rose P.O.V**

Adrian sat down next to me and poured a copious amount of the cream onto his palms. When he put his hands back on my neck I yelped in shock because of the frigid cream. Adrian smiled and rolled his eyes.

"Settle down Rose," he chuckled. "No use getting all worked up over it."

"Easy for you to say, you're not me," I shot back.

"I'm sure you'll get over it."

I fumed silently instead, my arms crossed stubbornly over my chest. Soon Adrian began working his finger magic again and the cream was worked into the back of my neck. I could feel all the sore spots disappearing as he worked and my arms fell back to my sides.

**Mason P.O.V**

Hayley was physically restraining me as I tried to lunge for the door. Adrian would pay in blood. And he needed to pay a lot. A few broken bones on that lanky frame would teach him.

"Adrian, don't put it there!" I heard Rose squeal.

"I'm sorry! I slipped!" the bastard replied.

"Let me at him Hayley," I growled at my cousin, pulling against her. But she was pretty strong for a girl…

"You should get a job doing this Adrian," Rose sighed. "You're really good."

I froze. She wanted Adrian to become a male prostitute? This conversation was getting weirder by the second. I couldn't remember her saying any of that stuff to me when we'd done it.

"I'm only this good because I practiced on my mother."

Hayley turned a light shade of green.

"That sick bastard," I muttered in shock. Surely Rose would push him away now?

"You mean she got years of this? I'm jealous." My jaw dropped so low I thought it would be scraping along the floor if I tried to move. Hayley and I glued ourselves to the door again, listening desperately.

**Rose P.O.V**

I slapped Adrian's hand away as he tried to reach down my shirt to retrieve the cream he'd let 'slip' down there. "Watch what you're doing Adrian," I warned. "I don't want anything else to slip. It could get messy."

"Sorry," he nudged me forward a little, toward the edge of the couch so he could better reach the back of my neck.

"Careful Adrian, I'll slip off!"

**Mason P.O.V**

I was dazed. I didn't know what to think of the conversation. Surely… surely she was joking?

"Adrian! It _obviously_ doesn't fit there!"

**Rose P.O.V**

I wrestled the hand cream away from Adrian and placed it on end table. It was almost painful watching him try to put it between the couch cushions.

**Mason P.O.V**

"Stop yelling, okay?" Adrian said in an exasperated tone. Well, at least neither of them were taking any satisfaction from their twisted body oil sex. "I am helping you here. Just relax."

"That's hard to do when you're poking your fingers everywhere," Rose fumed. "Hey! I told you! Watch where you're putting that!"

**Rose P.O.V**

"Alright, it was great watching you guys get along but I have to go to work," Lissa announced, her expression which used to be clouded with worry had cleared up into a serene smile.

I was once again scooping the hand cream out of my bra, trying not to focus on how Adrian was smirking as he watched me try and handle the difficult task.

**Mason P.O.V**

"Lissa was _watching_?" I mouthed to Hayley.

**Rose P.O.V**

"Okay, bye!" Adrian called quickly.

"Buh-bye," I waved a little and then returned my hand to the front of my chest, collecting the white goop. Lissa fumbled around in the kitchen for a few seconds, looking for her keys for the apartment.

**Mason P.O.V**

"Adrian you got that stuff all over me," Rose was finally disgusted… but I really didn't like the words she was saying… "Now I have to have a shower. Again!"

"Sorry," Adrian laughed. "I told you, I slipped!"

"Stop that Adrian! I don't need you to do that again," Rose snapped. "Don't you dare use my pants to wipe your –"

That was all I could endure. I slammed open the door, looking – I hoped – menacing. "If you two want to have sex then at least do it quietly!" I roared, sick of the conversation.

There was silence.

"Um…" Lissa broke the stillness, standing in the kitchen with her keys.

I took in the sight before me. Adrian and Rose were on the couch, Adrian pressing the back of his hands to Rose's outer leg, hands that were covered in cream. Next to him was a huge bottle of the stuff and Rose sat next to him, some remnants of the cream on her neck.

"Yeah Rose," Adrian recovered quickly and he turned to Rose. "Let's go have sex!"

I cursed myself silently.

**Rose P.O.V**

"Are you alright Mason?" Lissa asked from the kitchen, not at all sure of our friend's mental health.

Mason suddenly went pale. Adrian was still grinning lecherously at me but I ignored him. My eyes zoned in on Hayley, on the floor outside the apartment, rolling on the cheap carpet with laughter.

"Hayley? You do know breathing is pretty much essential to survival, right?" I asked worriedly.

Hayley didn't respond in any way but her laughter seemed to become more intense as she watched her cousin make a fool of himself.

"Oh, shit," Mason muttered, casting his eyes on the floor and turning a light shade of pink. "This sucks. We came here to see you Rose," he looked at me imploringly with his smoky grey eyes, "I didn't mean to…"

"Be an idiot?" I asked, standing. Adrian lounged in his seat and stared at Mason with a lazy grin plastered on his face.

"No, he probably didn't mean to," Adrian commented. "But who can fight their nature?"

I glanced between the two guys and sighed heavily. They stared at each other, intense hatred written all over their faces. I wondered if they would have gotten along if I hadn't been here. Mason was a lot like me so I doubted it but I didn't hate Adrian _that_ much.

Lissa moved out of the kitchen cautiously, eyeing us all up like we were nuclear bombs, ready to explode. "I'm going now," she said carefully, then she disappeared out the door, stepping carefully over Hayley as she went.

The awkwardness eased slightly and Mason mumbled another apology.

"It's fine Mase," I assured him. What was really worrying me was the way Mason and Adrian were glaring at each other. "How about we…"

Hayley seemed to have recovered slightly though she was still giggling. I motioned her over to me and she hurried to my side, still giggling. "What?" she asked, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Think of something we can do so they don't try to kill each other in my lounge room," I hissed. "I don't want to have to clean up afterwards and Lissa would kill me."

Hayley grinned and nodded. "I get it." She spun around the room, thinking fast. "How about a movie?" she suggested, louder than she would have been of she was seriously suggesting a quiet night with home made popcorn and a chick flick. "Let's watch a movie!"

My mind immediately rewound to the last time I had spent two hours in the dark with Adrian, trying to keep the same amount of distance between us… I shuddered at the memory. "No!" I said, a little louder than necessary. "Let's… um…"

"Go… out for… dinner?" Hayley suggested, unsure about my reaction. I sighed in relief and nodded. Adrian and Mason glanced away from each other and they both fixed their eyes on me.

"Sure," they said in unison. The glaring resumed.

"You can't blame each other for saying the same thing at the same time!" I sighed in exasperation. Hayley nodded fiercely beside me, backing me up like a good friend.

"Fine," Adrian mimicked my sigh and stood, smiling that irritating, charming smile. "Shall we go out?"

**I promise that both Dimitri and Christian will make a grand appearance in the next chapter! Maybe even Jesse too! I'm having so much fun writing this and you guys that are reviewing rock!**

**REVIEW**


	13. Oops

**I feel so guilty. I really wanted to update really fast but I went to see some really awesome stage shows and plays for two days and when I got back home I just didn't feel like writing… Sorry if this chapter seems a little forced, I had to jerk myself away from some stories in my head.**

**Oh yes, and someone – rosemarie17 (thanks!)– rightly informed me that Jesse's hair was in fact brown. Sorry to everyone for that mistake but I now continue, claiming that Jesse simply bleached his hair because that was too big of a mistake to simply ignore. Or I could ignore it but you guys need to decide. Should I pretend I didn't make that mistake or should I not? My bad!**

**It's a long one…**

**Chapter 13 – Oops**

Okay, dinner is officially the most awkward scenario that Hayley could have thought of. Adrian feeling me up during a movie would be better than how awkward this is. There are forty people staring at me right now. Eleven of them are significant. I'm going to hit one of them. Just one.

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It took a while for us all to leave the apartment because a certain little ginger kitten was sure that my shoe was her rightful resting place. It took a lot of convincing that a bed or the couch would be more appropriate. After a few minutes of shifting Iolanthi to different soft surfaces she was finally happy and we snuck out before she could try anything else.

We took Hayley's car, Mason and I in the back seat. There were two reasons for the seating arrangements. One, this way the boys wouldn't try to kill each other. Two, Mason wouldn't try anything funny because he was back here with me, Adrian would. Of course, that made me worry for Hayley for a little while but she and Adrian seemed to be good friends, nothing more. Thank God.

The trip there was working out well, all of us talking to each other though Mason and Adrian pointedly ignored each other. We were headed to a little Spanish restaurant that Hayley used to go to called Tapenada and unfortunately it would take an hour to get there. Apparently it was a bit of a family restaurant though so getting drunk and acting stupid wasn't an option. Adrian shot me a depressed look when Hayley informed us all of the fact.

When we arrived at the little restaurant I sighed gratefully. I couldn't handle the intense pressure I felt when I tried to ignore the tension coming from Adrian and Mason. Honestly, they were adults right? It was getting increasingly difficult to tell.

"So," Hayley clapped her hands together when we got inside. "What do you think?"

It had charm. Not much, but enough that it _seemed_ respectable. I wondered what Adrian would try tonight. I wondered if he would get away with it… A few broken fingers would probably discourage him.

Adrian smiled lazily at Hayley. "It's cute," he allowed, looking around the softly lit room. It was one simple room. Refreshingly there wasn't a cloud hanging in the air from the overuse of cigarettes. Adrian was patting the pocket he kept his Clove cigarettes in thoughtfully, probably intending on changing that status. I hoped it got him kicked out.

A waitress appeared at our side and with a look of utter boredom quickly repeated lines that she'd obviously said millions of times before. "Hello, welcome to Tapeneda, my name is Georgia, how may I help you tonight? Table of four? Right this way."

She didn't wait for our response, she just stormed off into the little room and we followed sheepishly.

"Anything else?" she demanded as she turned back to us, flipping her golden curls back over her shoulder as she regarded us with cold grey eyes.

Hayley beat me to the speaking part and I sullenly shut my mouth, slinking into my chair and snatching up the menu. I didn't recognise half the stuff on there and I wondered if I could possibly ask for a steak or something. When everyone was seated, the tension from the car returned. I was seated next to Mason, fearing that any other arrangement would end disastrously. Hayley and I watched as Adrian and Mason stared it out from across the table, alternating between insultingly bored looks and evil glares. We exchanged our own look of exasperation.

Our waitress sauntered back to us, clutching a note pad in her hands and smiling forcedly. This was not going to be pretty.

"Are you ready to order?" she asked, once again speaking as though she were sick of saying the line.

Everyone ordered, Adrian picking one of the most complex things on the menu with a charming smile and Georgia responded with a smile of her own and a flirty wink. She then turned to me.

"And you?" she asked, any warmth her tone had held for Adrian was completely gone and she sounded bored again. Well. I was offended.

"And me what?" I asked with all the attitude I could muster. That was a lot of attitude.

Her dull grey eyes sparked with interest and she drew herself up to her full height. "What are you?" she asked tauntingly. "Bitch or cow?"

Oh if only she knew how much better that comeback could have sounded. "Bit of both," I replied snappily. "But at least I'm not built like either," I looked her up and down scornfully. Adrian snickered quietly, Mason grinned openly and Hayley threw me a nervous half smile.

Georgia glared defiantly at me for a few seconds and I waited for the comeback I knew wasn't going to be delivered.

"Steak, if it's possibly," I sniffed disdainfully and lounged in my seat.

"What?" she demanded incredulously. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

I rolled my eyes and regarded her mockingly. "It means I would like a steak for my meal, if it's possible," I talked slower than I would have even if I were talking to a young child.

Georgia glared at me one more time and finally retorted. "Do you want it cooked or should I bring it out here rare so you can breathe fire on it?"

Nice. It wasn't half bad compared to some of the other crap she'd been throwing at me. She stalked away as soon as I opened my mouth to deliver my sassy retort.

Hayley smiled slightly at me, looking just a tiny bit sick. "Okay," she muttered unsteadily. "If you guys get kicked out can you pretend not to know me? I really like this place."

We all laughed at her statement and suddenly the tension between Mason and Adrian was gone. They still wouldn't talk to each other, of course, but the air was clear and we could all enjoy ourselves without worrying about who was going to die. Our meals arrived shortly after Georgia had disappeared but she wasn't the one who delivered the plates on which the Spanish dishes rested. The meals the others had ordered didn't look so appetising to me and I was glad the chef knew how to cook steak.

We were half way through our meal. On impulse I lifted my head and stared at the couple that had just walked through the door, their hands interlocked. My eyes, of course, immediately drifted to the raven haired man who was whispering in the ear of his partner. His ice blue eyes were sparkling with humour as he told her something in hushed tones. I didn't have time to assess his looks because suddenly my eyes were drawn inevitably to the platinum blonde beauty at his side. Lissa stood there in all her perfect glory, listening with rapture to whatever he was murmuring. Her jade eyes glowed with pleasure and she tightened her hand around his, whispering something in return. I knew it. I just knew she wouldn't be that eager to go to work. Damn, my instincts were good…

Georgia, of course, sauntered up to them. I rapped my fingers on the table, effectively ending conversation between anybody else at my table.

"What?" Hayley asked, her green eyes zoning in on me. "Rose?"

I pointed silently to the couple at the door and listened to their varied reactions. Adrian sniggered, Hayley gasped and Mason sighed.

"What a strange coincidence," I muttered lightly. "Do you think they'd like to join us?" there were three reasons I wanted Lissa and her mystery guy to sit her. One, I found the entire situation rather amusing. Two, I wanted to drill her about the how's, when's and why's. Three, I was feeling intensely protective of my best friend and I wanted to know if he was an asshole.

"I think they'd love to," Adrian said playfully.

"I'll go get them," Mason said brightly.

"I'll go with you!" Hayley exclaimed excitedly.

Uh-oh. I only realised what a mistake that was when the left. Adrian smirked at me.

"Only you and me left now Rose… feeling up to some games?" he asked suggestively.

"Adrian," I started in an annoyed tone. "The next time you see fit to talk to me like that I will gut you. With a nice, shiny hooked knife I will rip your insides until they look like they've been through a blender and then I'll find the closest mangy cat and I'll feed your fingers to it. I won't even mention the other parts of your body that I'll feed to the dog next door but I promise you it will be a certain part of the anatomy men are _very_ sensitive about. After I've done that I will dissect the remains of your body until you're only in once centimetre pieces and I will throw them off some long forgotten bridge and you will, quite literally, feed the fishes."

There was a long pause and Adrian was still smirking playfully at me. "Can you talk dirty like that too?"

Thankfully anything else that may have transpired between us was abruptly cut off by Lissa and her new boyfriend arriving at our table. Lissa was blushing profusely and I laughed quietly at her expression.

"Relax Lissa," I assured my best friend. "I'm not going to kill you," I shot a glare in Adrian's general direction. Georgia dragged a spare table and slid it into place right next to ours.

I pointedly ignored Georgia and what she was saying and began staring intently at this new boy. He was across from me, having taken Hayley's seat. Lissa was next to him and Hayley now sat next to her, which left me two spare seats to my right and Mason on my left. He caught me staring and turned to me, giving me a half mocking, half daring smile. My eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"I'm Rose," I introduced myself carefully.

"I'm Christian," the way he said it conveyed his smart aleck attitude. "We've met before."

"Yeah, I know," I muttered, frowning in distaste at the memory. I paused and thought through all the questions I wanted to ask him.

"Save the interrogation," he said in a bored voice, predicting my words. "I'm just here to have dinner."

"Excuse me?" I asked in disbelief. "Just who the hell do you think you are? That's my best friend you're hanging all over. Interrogation will happen whenever I say it will, so will your ass kicking if you hurt her."

Christian watched me studiously for a moment. "Yeah, whatever."

I fumed silently and glared at him. He glared back. This relationship was officially off to a bad start. I hoped Lissa wasn't serious about him.

"'Whatever'," I repeated his words in a dangerously quiet tone. "If you ever say that to me again I'll break all the bones in your body. Lissa is the only best friend I have. I'll make sure make sure she doesn't get hurt by the likes of _you_. And if you do hurt her, say goodbye to life."

"Look," he adjusted his seat so he could stare coldly into my eyes. "I don't care about who you are or whatever glory trip you're after. You don't care about who I am so long as Lissa's happy. She's happy. Get over it."

I smiled mockingly at him. "How would I know if she's happy? Because the first time I ever see her with you she's smiling? I know Lissa. I know her a lot better than you do because I've known her for a lot longer. If you mess with my friends you mess with me. The only thing I will ever threaten you with is your life. The only thing I will ever threaten you about is Lissa. Don't hurt her."

He regarded me thoughtfully for a moment. "Fine."

He turned his back on me and quickly ordered his meal before turning back to Lissa and engaging both her and Hayley in conversation.

I turned away, stabbing moodily at the half steak that was still on my plate. I didn't like this guy, it was official. People you met in libraries were untrustworthy. My black mood only darkened when I noticed the tense silence between Adrian and Mason.

I sighed angrily and glared at them both. Of course, they didn't notice. What was with guys and being so dense? Didn't they get that I really wasn't interested in either of them? What kind of delusion were they both under? Did either of them honestly think they could beat the other and win my affection in the process? I worked myself up over the little matter, looking for some way to vent my anger. Adrian and Mason were still locked in one of their customary stare downs, oblivious to my growing anger.

"Can we leave yet?" I growled sullenly, to no one in particular.

Mason broke away from Adrian and glanced up at me, startled. "You haven't finished eating," he pointed out. "Why would you want to leave?"

Adrian sighed. "What does that matter? She wants to leave, I say we go."

I wondered suspiciously if Adrian was saying that because he meant it or because he didn't want to agree with Mason.

"Nobody else has finished eating," Mason pointed out, turning to glare hotly at Adrian.

"So?" Adrian returned the glare, venom dripping from every word. "They can stay and eat. Rose and I will leave."

Mason's eyes grew wide and startled at that piece of information. "If you're going, I am too!"

A chuckled slipped between Adrian's lips. "Yeah, sure. You sit down and 'finish eating' with everybody else."

"You're not taking her away from me," Mason declared valiantly.

"Yeah," Adrian laughed. "Of course not. I don't think she's really interested."

"In you," Mason retorted. "But she's actually dated me."

"Ah," Adrian said sagely. "That's because she hadn't met me."

"Stupid rich boy," Mason said hotly.

"Pathetic dog," Adrian retorted.

I would have sat and listened to them bicker for a while longer but I suddenly realised that my anger had found its vent.

"Oh grow up already!" I snapped, standing and slamming my hands down on the table. The room fell silent. There were several small children staring at me. "Get over yourselves and just _pretend_ you like each other for once!"

There was a long silence, a spell being held over the room that a familiar voice broke.

"Hey Rose!" I turned to see Jesse, waving confidently at me from a table near the window. I smiled half heartedly at him, grateful for the distraction. The silence was shattered and people started muttering about my outburst. Jesse stood and sauntered towards us, heedless of the sudden threatening glares that Adrian and Mason were now directing at him.

Oh no.

I glared at the two idiots before turning back to Jesse, the one guy in this city that I actually liked. So far.

"Hi Jesse," I said brightly.

He grinned at me and then turned his attention to the other people seated with me. Lissa was watching me, mortified at my outburst while _Christian_ sat and smirked at me, and annoyingly obnoxious smirk that made me angrier than even Adrian could. Adrian and Mason were still shooting venom with their eyes and Hayley was watching the whole exchange, eyes as wide as saucers.

Lissa recovered first, standing and greeting Jesse. I made quick introductions to everybody then gave Jesse another one of my famous flirty smiles. I made sure Adrian and Mason caught the show. Maybe this would discourage them.

"So, what are you doing here?" I asked playfully, dragging Jesse down into one of the spare seats.

He laughed lightly and looked over his shoulder at the table he had been sitting at previously. "My father is trying to join practices with another doctor. This was sort of their first meeting."

I watched the old doc stand from his table and send a disdainful sniff in my direction, beckoning his soon to be colleague out the door. They were probably going to find a different restaurant where they could discuss things in a quieter setting.

"What does your father do?" Adrian asked, his interest sounding distant.

"He's a doctor," Jesse replied, turning his dark blue eyes on Adrian.

"Ah," Adrian said, his tone mocking.

"What's that mean?" Jesse asked, twisting in his seat so that he could see Adrian more clearly.

Adrian smirked. "Nothing. I mean, your father runs his own little clinic, I imagine?"

"Yes," Jesse admitted, watching Adrian carefully.

"My father owns a chain of hospitals is all," Adrian commented, catching my eye and winking flirtatiously. I growled indistinctly under my breath. "The clinics are seen with... scorn."

Mason smirked when Jesse didn't reply. Oh that was just perfect. They were working together now.

"So," I turned back to Jesse, effectively blocking any other comments on their part. "Why aren't you going with your father?" I nodded at the door he had exited through.

Jesse laughed. "Well, what are the chances that I'll see you twice in one day? I didn't even get your phone number earlier."

I grinned happily. "Yeah, well, the chances are that Lissa will pick up."

His eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Don't you have a mobile?"

I sighed forlornly, not quite able to remember the fate of my black phone. "No," I said unhappily. "It's... lost. Or dead. Or something."

He smiled a little at my tone. "I bet I can make you feel better."

I turned to him with a playful smile. "Oh?"

"You know that offer you made earlier?"

I stopped dead, rewinding to my previous conversation with Jesse. What offer? "Um, no?"

"You said you'd bring me back to your place, if you didn't already have a roomie," his eyes slid to Lissa. "You don't have a roomie _right_ now."

I was shocked, just like I was the first time I met him. Forwardness was good, but not this much of it. His hand rested on my knee and I shifted uncertainly. What exactly did he want from me? Well, I could always ask.

"What do you want?" I asked quietly. Everyone else at the table was engaged in conversation so the chances that anybody would hear me were pretty slim. "From me, I mean?"

Jesse leaned in with a smile. "Just sex."

I frowned. What great taste in guys I had. "Excuse me?" I asked haughtily.

Jesse leaned back a little bit, looking startled. "What?" he asked incredulously, as though he couldn't guess at what he had said.

I glared at him quickly. I mean, sure. I didn't want him for much other than that anyway but for crying out loud, did he have to just come out and say it like that? Wasn't he in the least bit considerate? This was not a guy I would like. I leaned back in my chair and frowned, turning to Lissa in search of some entertainment.

"What did I say?" Jesse asked, getting the attention of everyone at the table. Mason and Adrian exchanged a smirk and then seemed to realise who they were agreeing with. They shuddered in a peculiar unison.

Christian smirked and replied dryly. "Something bad, obviously." I glared at him.

Jesse was staring intently at me, trying to puzzle out why I was suddenly pissed off at him. I knew it was one hundred and eighty degrees from my flirty smile but I shot him a dirty look.

"What?" he asked me, shocked.

I tuned in to the other conversations going on around the table. Adrian was talking lightly with Christian. Adrian was his usual friendly self while Christian was speaking with great caution. Lissa and Hayley were in a conversation about shopping. I jumped in, eager to share my expertise. Christian and Lissa got their meals shortly after I joined in their chatter and Jesse got his plate brought over to the table. Mason glared at Jesse and Jesse returned his glare with a startled too-cool look before sulking.

Everything was just perfect for a moment. I was mad at boys and talking about clothes with my best friend and a girl who was quickly climbing the ladder to my second best friend. Hayley chattered a lot but she balanced out the silence Lissa usually left unfilled. I found myself smiling at the two girls opposite me. I didn't even pay attention to what the boys were saying. I guess I should have been.

It was a weird moment in my mind, a kind of out of body experience. I heard a voice. A startlingly familiar voice gently laced with a faint Russian accent, protesting against something or someone. My head snapped up and our eyes met, his light brown eyes once again locked with my own. He was only a few feet from me. I had a weird sense of déjà vu and then it happened.

The woman tugging him along tugged too hard and he remained standing where he was. With a cry of alarm the girl fell forward, onto one of the waiters. It all went in slow motion from then on. The waiter staggered backwards, into a customer who had just pulled out his seat. The seat toppled unceremoniously to the ground as the man steadied the waiter. Neither of them noticed the chair. Unfortunately, neither did the young woman walking calmly back to her seat. She tripped on the fallen chair and flew forwards, gripping the edge of a nearby table for support, causing the tablecloth to be neatly ripped from the oaken slab. A glass flew from the aforementioned table and flew into the back of the waitress, Georgia and she spun angrily, platter still held in one hand, completely oblivious to her customers who had to dodge her swinging plates. The waiter, ready to fix his earlier mistake ran forward to help and was hit by the swinging tray. For the second time he staggered backwards, a dazed look on his face, into an oncoming waiter who held some sort of Spanish soup and with an exaggerated cry of "NNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOO!!!" the soup took it's first ever flying lesson, right into my lap.

Everyone froze. Especially me. I was blisteringly aware of everyone's eyes, trained on me. For the second time in an hour, everybody was staring. Every person that had been sitting on my table had jumped up to stand behind their chairs for fear of being hit by flying soup.

My gaze was no longer fixed on Dimitri, I now stared blankly ahead of me, trying to register what had just happened.

Nobody even breathed during that time.

And then…

A chuckle broke the silence, followed by a short cackle then finally, wholehearted laughter coming from the seat directly opposite me. Christian. Would. Die. His laughter seemed to break the spell and everyone moved again. A few laughs could be heard as the blushing waiters and Georgia apologised profusely to everyone. I was staring mournfully at my clothing. It would have to be thrown out now. The steadily spreading red stain didn't look like it was going to come out easily.

"Oh well," Adrian shrugged from across the table. "You can always get more clothes."

I stared at him incredulously. Georgia and the two other waiters hurried across the room, ready to apologise to me. I was angry. No, I was more than angry, I was furious. I stood slowly and walked around the table to where everyone stood.

The room fell silent for the third time.

I drew my fist back and let it snap forward with as much force as I could muster, and let me tell you, that was a lot of force.

There are forty people staring at me right now. Eleven of them are significant. I'm going to hit one of them. Just one.

**So? What do you think? This got a lot more fun to write toward the end. Who can guess who she hit? For those of you who haven't figured out the eleven yet, you've got the following options:**

**1. Lissa**

**2. Christian**

**3. Mason**

**4. Adrian**

**5. Dimitri**

**6. Jesse**

**7. The Girl Dimitri Came in With**

**8. Waiter 1**

**9. Waiter 2**

**10. Georgia**

**11. Hayley**

**Pick one and tell me why, I'd love to know the reasoning behind your theories!**


	14. The Three People Mystery

**Chapter 14 – The Three People Mystery**

_I drew my fist back and let it snap forward with as much force as I could muster, and let me tell you, that was a lot of force…_

I can always get more clothes? How dare he? Didn't he know anything? My aim was true and Adrian's shocked face was the only thing in my vision. He would pay. I wasn't paying as much attention as I should have been. When Adrian moved out of the way I didn't have time to stop the momentum I'd built up, only slow it down and my fist connected quite solidly with one of the three people I wasn't mad at.

**The first and last time I will ever use chat speak:**

**Lol.**

**Sorry, I couldn't resist. I know this chapter is the shortest I've ever put up but I couldn't think of another way to do it. You guys remember the 'sins' of all the characters right? Who are the three people Rose isn't mad at? Remember, she could have been mad at this person from the word go and then forgiven them or she could still be holding a grudge. She's forgiven three of them. Who are they?**


	15. Two Russians In A Spanish Restaurant

**Alright, now I feel ultra guilty for that short chapter so today you get three! Damn, I'm such a sucker for guilt trips… You must all really hate me right now… Hope these three make up for it!**

**Chapter 15 – Two Russians in a Spanish Restaurant**

"I am so sorry," I said again. I wasn't quite sure how many times I had said that but I was pretty sure it was over a hundred. The girl sitting in front of me waved a hand negligently and gave me a small smile. We hadn't been kicked out of the restaurant yet but the manager was glaring at us, a glare to match one of my old headmistress's glares when I had stood before her after destroying some sort of school property.

"Really, its fine," the girl assured me, her Russian accent stronger than her brother's. I glanced up at Dimitri who sat next to his sister, smiling in an amused silence. It was a brilliant way to end a Sunday night. Punch somebody in the face. Well, it would have been if I'd punched to person I'd intended to punch.

I hovered worriedly above the two siblings, shooting glares at Adrian who looked back at me innocently. Damn him to hell. I was going to massacre both him and Christian and it would be a slow and painful death. I glanced back at Nada and returned to hovering anxiously.

A lot of people had left the restaurant after my violent outburst, only a few people daring enough to remain in the vicinity. I sat quickly, opposite Nada and watched her carefully. There wasn't that much blood anymore but it still looked like it hurt like hell. Luckily I hadn't broken her nose or anything but I'd gotten pretty damn close. Dimitri seemed to find the whole thing rather amusing once he had gotten over the shock and found out that his sister wasn't seriously injured or anything.

"Rose," Lissa approached me cautiously, Hayley at her side. Apparently I was looking a little edgy.

"Yeah?" I asked, glancing up at my friend.

"Mason and I have to get home," Hayley said apologetically. "I have to go to a lecture tomorrow at eight o'clock… I really need to sleep," she looked at her wrist watch. "It's already ten and I'm a grouch if I don't sleep. At least according to my mother. Sorry."

"Why are you sorry?" I asked bluntly. "How does that affect me?"

Hayley smiled nervously "Well, I kind of brought you here so I have to take you home. We need to go."

"It's okay, I can get a taxi or something," I imagined sitting in the car with Adrian and Mason all over again and shuddered. "I think I'll be happier that way anyway. And I'll still have my mental health when I get home. You go," I looked at Lissa. "I suppose Christian will be driving you home?"

She nodded sheepishly. "Yeah, I think so."

"Okay," I nodded and smiled. "We're all good then!"

"Okay," Hayley said uncertainly. "If you're sure," she hovered around me until I waved and smiled. "Adrian has already paid for everyone's meals," she assured me. "Bye."

She, Adrian and Mason walked out the door and I suddenly felt bad for saddling her with those two. _But Mason is her cousin_, a little voice reminded me. _She can handle him and Adrian is friends with her. She'll be fine_.

Christian sauntered over to where Lissa stood and I sat, once again staring worriedly at Nada.

"You gonna hit anyone else tonight?" he asked dryly.

"Only if you keep talking to me," I snapped angrily. Lissa grabbed Christian's arm, recognising the pissed off look on my face. She knew I was serious.

"We're just going to go now," she said, looking meaningfully at Christian. "I'm really tired."

Christian smirked and allowed himself to be dragged to the door by the tall, skinny blonde. I glared at him the whole way. When the door swung shut behind them I knew there was only one person left to say goodbye to. I glanced over at Jesse who had just taken the seat next to me, feeling the slight annoyance I had for him growing into irritation.

"When are we going home Rose?" he asked, completely serious. Did he think we were both going to the same place?

"Sorry Jesse, I'm leaving after you do," I said flatly. I didn't want to be stuck anywhere with him, taxi cab, bus or otherwise. I was acutely aware of Dimitri and Nada watching us curiously.

Jesse frowned at me, confused, no doubt, by my hostility. "Alright," he said doubtfully. He stood again and grabbed his coat off one of the chairs and walked out of the restaurant. The remaining customers were four people by the window, conversing in low tones and a couple with their hands linked, staring dreamily into each other's eyes. The atmosphere was very quiet.

"It's stopped bleeding," Nada said quietly, taking the tissue away from her face. "Excuse me," she stood and went to the bathroom, leaving me sitting there with Dimitri staring at me.

We sat in silence for a short while and I wondered what we were going to say to each other. While I waited for him to speak I studied him across the table. His light brown hair was once again disobeying his wishes and strands were in his hazel eyes, obscuring his vision. I let my eyes drift over his chest and I suppressed a sigh. The shirt was form fitting enough to hint at the definition of his muscles... _Back up Rose,_ _He may be absolutely gorgeous but you need to be more wary this time. No need for another Jesse._

"Why is it," he began with a smile, drawing my attention away from his upper body. "That whenever I see you, you're in the middle of doing something embarrassing?"

I looked at him, startled. This was the conversation he decided to start with? I had to defend myself. "Okay, the first time was so not my fault. That was Adrian, trying to piss me off," his smile grew. "And this time it was your fault."

"My fault?" he asked, still quite amused at my expense. "How was it my fault?"

I sat back and looked at him disbelievingly. "Nada tugged on your arm. You didn't move. Weren't you paying attention?"

His brown eyes twinkled with mirth. "Yes, but not to what was happening. I didn't feel Nada pulling me along. If it was anyone's fault, it was yours. You distracted me."

I rolled my eyes but started examining him behaviour. Was this flirting? It seemed a little subtle… Or was it just normal conversation for him? Did he like me? "What are you doing here anyway? Two Russians in a Spanish restaurant?"

Dimitri laughed easily. "Nada loves trying different kinds of foods. She also loves having someone there so she can tell them how good it tastes."

"So you're that someone this time?" I smiled, thinking of my aversion to foreign foods. Or at least Spanish food.

He grimaced. "I'm _always_ that someone. The rest of our family is still in Russia."

"You must miss them," I observed. "My mother is living in Montana. Not quite as far away but we might as well be worlds apart."

"Why?" he cocked his head to one side. "If your mother is so close then why don't you go see her?"

I sighed. "She and I haven't spoken to each other in about a year. What's sad is it's not even because we had a fight or anything. We just don't like each other," I looked out the window and saw the rain start up. It was going to be a great adventure to get a cab in this weather.

Dimitri watched me in silence for a moment, looking as though he was trying to puzzle something out. "Why don't you call her?" he asked suddenly. "Maybe you've changed. Maybe you'll like her."

I shook my head and smiled, looking back at him. "I don't think so. And even if we have changed I can't call her because I lost my phone. I have no idea what happened to it…"

We fell into a comfortable silence again, both of us now watching the steadily falling rain. I didn't know how much time had passed but it had to be fifteen minutes before Nada arrived.

"Dimitri," she appeared silently beside us. I didn't even jump, even though her approach had been completely silent. There was something very calm about the atmosphere around us. Nada continued on in Russian and Dimitri listened intently, replying with an eye-roll and a small nod when she was finished. I watched the exchange with confusion, confusion that grew when Nada walked to the door and waved at us.

"Where's she going?" I asked Dimitri in puzzlement.

He smiled and pointed through the window where a green car was parked. Nada walked up to the car and without hesitation got into the passenger seat. A few seconds passed and then the car took off into the steadily intensifying rain.

"Who was that?" I asked, turning back to Dimitri.

Dimitri shrugged. "One of Nada's friends. She apparently has no idea why they're suddenly here but she thought she'd better go with them, just in case they needed her for something," his tone said he didn't believe one word of it.

"It's very convenient," I observed.

He smiled. "Yes. Nada loves to meddle."

"I don't have any siblings," I said thoughtfully. "I think my mother heard about how I was growing up and decided she didn't want to go through any of those hassles."

"She 'heard' about you growing up?" he asked, raising one eyebrow. Damn. I'd always wanted to be able to do that.

"Yeah," I continued. "She basically gave me to one of her friends to raise. I never saw her. When I turned five she put me in a boarding school." I shrugged and half smiled. "That was kind of when I discovered who I was."

Dimitri leaned across the table separating us and I followed his example. We stared at each other intently, ignoring anyone else in the restaurant. From the outside it would have looked like we were having a very intimate conversation. "And who are you?" he asked.

"Trouble," I smiled wickedly. "A lot of trouble."

He watched me thoughtfully, his eyes still locked with mine and his lips still curved in a perfect smile. "And I suppose you figured this out all on your own, did you?" he whispered.

"Of course," I whispered back. "Although my teacher's always sending me to the corner helped just a bit."

"Of course," he said simply.

Neither of us spoke for a long while, we just looked at each other. I don't know what he was thinking but my thoughts weren't ones that I was ever going to say aloud in a public place. I had to start wondering about the last time we met, wondering what would have happened if Adrian hadn't been there – conveniently forgetting that the awkward situation wouldn't have happened if Adrian wasn't there – and I let myself get caught up in an unrealistic fantasy of him simply walking through the door and kissing me. Of course the kissing would have escalated until we were in my room, where Adrian conveniently _wasn't_. When my breathing had grown uneven from the daydream I ripped my eyes away from his and stood up. Screw this. He wasn't a Jesse, or at least he didn't seem like one. Maybe it was time for some more serious flirting.

Dimitri stood too, his eyes worried. "What's wrong?" he asked, his accent a little stronger than usual.

"Nothing," I replied, smiling, dragging my eyes away from his body. "I just need to get going. Lissa's probably waiting for me."

He moved around the table and walked with me to the door. "Are you really going to try and get a taxi?" he asked me as we stepped out the door into the small square of sheltered area before the road.

The rain was thundering down now and there was even a light show going on in the sky, courtesy of God. I glanced up the street, watching the cars trickle home. "Um, yeah," I shouted over the rain.

Dimitri shook his head. "You'll be drenched by the time one comes down this street," he shouted back. "Come with me."

He took my hand and led me hurriedly through the rain to his car. I followed in a kind of daze, hyper aware of his warm hand clasping mine. I wasn't sure I was really thinking anything as we ran. I was just following along. He guided me into the seat then got in beside me, I gave him quick directions and then we were off.

"Have you ever wanted siblings?" he asked me, picking up the conversation with ease.

I laughed. "Yeah, of course. Sometimes I think it would make the situation with my mother easier. Then I realise that I don't really want to be looking after anybody asides Lissa."

He glanced at me quickly at a set of lights. "How long have you known Lissa?" he asked curiously.

"Since kindergarten. We were paired together for writing lessons," I smiled at the memory. "Our teacher was making us write out our names. Forcing five year olds to spell Vasilisa Dragomir and Rosemarie Hathaway is beyond cruel. I threw my book at the teacher and called her a fascist bastard."

Dimitri laughed at my little story and accelerated. "Did you hit her?"

I pretended to be insulted. "Of course! I have excellent aim. Lissa and I have been best friends ever since."

"Sound like an activity five year olds would bond over," he chuckled. "And the early display of violence kind of explains why you were trying to hit your boyfriend tonight."

"My what?!"

Dimitri looked at me, puzzled. "The one you tried to hit earlier. Adrian. He's your boyfriend, yes?"

There was a stunned silence.

"Adrian?" I burst into fits of laughter. "Adrian?" I gasped. I clutched my sides to keep myself from exploding and rocked back and forth in my seat, letting my mirth sound throughout the car. Dimitri watched me with confusion, patiently waiting for me to calm down.

"You think Adrian is my boyfriend?" I finally managed, wiping tears from my eyes and giggling.

"Well, I assumed because of the way he spoke to you when we first met…" He seemed a little distant for a moment and I blushed, knowing that he was remembering what had happened that day. "But then again," he continued. "Jesse seemed to be quite fond of you."

That stopped my laughter. "Yeah," I said sourly. "He's just a little _too_ fond of me. Or my body anyway."

He glanced at me, probably wondering about the sudden change in moods.

"I only met him today," I explained as he returned his attention to the little traffic still on the road. "He's just a little too forward. I'm trying to tell him to back off but apparently he doesn't understand English."

Dimitri chuckled again, breaking through my sour mood.

"But what about you?" I asked suddenly. "Surely you've got _someone_ who just isn't getting the message."

He paused and glanced slyly at me. "Was that a compliment?"

"Asking if you have a stalker?" I laughed. "I don't know, is it?"

He smiled and replied. "No. I tend to avoid public places."

"Ah," I nodded. "You're a social recluse."

"No I'm not," he defended quickly. "I just prefer to read books."

"Oh," I grinned. "One of those try-hard geeks."

He sighed in exasperation and I laughed.

"Alright, you just don't like crowds," I allowed. "So you read books in your spare time. What else do you do?"

He looked thoughtful. "I work."

I stared at him in disbelief. "You read books and you work. Isn't that just a _little_ boring?"

He shrugged. "It keeps me occupied."

"You haven't got a girlfriend?" I blurted. I didn't think about my words but looking back on them I realised it wasn't the smartest way to find out if he was single. Luckily, Dimitri didn't notice. He just smiled.

"No. Like I said, I try to avoid public places."

I gave a mental sigh of relief. "So what do you do? Your job, I mean."

"Right now I'm a personal trainer at one of the gyms in town," he smiled again. "I'm not sure what I'll be doing if I leave here. It's not something I want to be doing for the rest of my life."

We lapsed into silence for a few minutes and suddenly all I could think about was the way his muscles had shown through his shirt earlier. I slid my eyes over to him and noticed how I could see all the lines of his body, even when he was sitting down. I sighed and he glanced at me questioningly. I smiled and looked away. Damn this man was hot.

He pulled up on the side of the road and I glanced out the window, up at the apartment block. "Damn," I whispered.

"What was that?" he asked, shifting in his seat so he could see me better.

"Nothing," I turned back to him and smiled. "Thanks for the ride."

"You're welcome," he replied, smiling in return. I didn't move to get out of the car and we fell back into that comfortable silence. It was extremely relaxing and for a moment I just focused on being in a peaceful environment, with the rain hammering on the roof. I could smell his aftershave lingering in the car and I smiled again. It smelled great, and even though I didn't know him very well, very Dimitri.

"I guess I should go," I broke the silence. "Liss will be waiting for me."

"Yeah," he agreed. I opened my door then turned back to him.

"Where do you work again?" I asked.

"A gym just down the road from here," he gestured. "It's called Vantage Point Fitness. Why?"

I grinned. "Oh, no reason. I just thought I might visit it one day."

He smiled in response. "It's a pretty easy place to work," he commented. "They only require me to work Monday and Wednesday morning and on the weekends. There are some terrible trainers though."

"Oh really?" I smiled playfully, realising he was working tomorrow. "So how should I avoid them?"

"Come between eight and eleven on Monday or Wednesday or any time between nine and three on the weekends. I'm sure I could get you to work with Ginger."

I smiled at him one last time and stepped out of the car, closing the door behind me. Quickly I spun and rapped on the glass, heedless of the fact that I was standing in the pouring rain. The window rolled down and Dimitri looked at me from the other side of the car.

"Why Ginger?" I shouted over the rain.

He grinned, not even bothering with the pretence anymore. "Because Ginger and I work the same shifts."

**Their first ever conversation! Yay! Next chapter is Swiss Cheese IV!**


	16. Swiss Cheese IV

**Chapter 15 – Swiss Cheese IV**

_We giggled hysterically as we staggered through the door and into our apartment._

"_I can't believe you did that!" Lissa gasped._

"_Neither can I!" I giggled in return. "We'll be murdered!"_

"_I'd better tell the landlord we're not coming back," she staggered out of the room again and I glanced down at my phone as she left. As much as I loved my mobile, I knew it couldn't come with us. I sighed mournfully and tossed it into the trashcan, shocked beyond all reason when it didn't land where I'd intended it to. I got down on my hands and knees and carefully placed the phone in the bin, letting another giggle escape._

_This was going to be awesome._


	17. New Zealand IceCream

**I decided I'd give you a little Dimitri P.O.V as well because I'm feeling **_**really**_** guilty for that Three Person Mystery thing… Actually, it's a lot of Dimitri P.O.V…**

**Chapter 17 – New Zealand Ice-Cream**

I groggily awoke to the obnoxious sound of my alarm, beeping repetitively in my ear. It was six am and in my plain opinion, not even the sun had the right to be up this early. Lissa had set my alarm again.

Lissa…

Suddenly I shot up out of bed and ran to her bedroom, streaking through the house in my favourite baggy shirt and underwear.

"Liss?" I slammed open her door, making sure it banged against the wall loud enough to wake the dead. The bed was empty of all things but Iolanthi, curled up in the centre of the comforter. The bed was made. That would have been normal except Lissa never got out of bed before six… It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what had happened. After being thoroughly distracted by thoughts of seeing Dimitri again I had wandered upstairs and just assumed Lissa was late getting home when I couldn't find her. I had wondered to my room and in my sleep deprived state I had gotten changed then fallen onto my bed without another thought. Lissa, however, was probably off with Christian, doing something like –

My thought process was interrupted by the slight sound of a key turning in a lock. The only reason I heard it was because my senses were on high alert. I shot down the small hallway and through the lounge, diving to the door before Lissa had the chance to open it. I flung open the obstructing piece of wood and stood there, arms crossed over my chest, glaring at my best friend.

"You have a lot of explaining to do."

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"Nothing happened?" I asked, dumbstruck. "What do you mean nothing happened? You were out with him the whole night!" I was sitting on the bench, ignoring Iolanthi as she sat next to me, demanding imperiously that I cuddle her.

Lissa sighed, flipping the eggs over in the frying pan. "I know, but really, nothing happened! We just went back to his place and watched a movie and then," she shrugged. "I must have fallen asleep. I woke up with him, on the couch."

"How did you meet him?" I demanded, skipping to the next most demanding query.

She sighed again. It was always her first response to every single one of my questions. "I met him in the library," she answered shortly.

"Uh-huh," I nodded, batting Iolanthi's paw out of the way while waiting for her to continue.

She rolled her eyes. "And we talked! There isn't much to it Rose. I was just a little upset and he talked to me and I… well, I yelled at him," she admitted, embarrassed.

"_When_ did you meet him?" I asked, wondering how long she'd been keeping this from me.

"Only nine days ago," she whispered.

"Nine days? Nine whole days?!"

"Including this one!" she said hurriedly. "I met him the day after my dare."

I paused. "Wow. Really?" It was the same day I'd met Dimitri.

"Yeah," she blushed. "I had gotten into trouble for messing up some part of the system and one of the assistants yelled at me. I went to put away some returned books because I wanted to get away from her and I was really angry. Christian had seen the whole thing and he came to talk to me. I sort of turned around and screamed at him," she buried her face in her hands. "I screamed about the padded bra shopping and the flirting and dancing on tables for strangers and everything. It was really embarrassing," her face was buried in her hands.

"Huh," I replied thoughtfully.

"What?" she asked, looking up at me while she shovelled the eggs onto a plate and put them in the oven to keep them warm. She pulled out some bacon from the fridge.

"That's the same day I met Dimitri," I commented.

"Whose Dimitri – Oh! That's the guy from last night! The one you wouldn't stop staring at!" she grinned. "You were keeping secrets too!"

"No I wasn't," I defended. "And I wasn't staring at him," I sniffed disdainfully. "It's called ogling, get it right."

Lissa laughed and clapped her hands together in an annoying show of glee. "How'd you meet him?"

I smirked. "It was a much more embarrassing moment than yours."

"I doubt that," Lissa returned my smirk and faced me, arms crossed.

I grinned in response to her challenge. I would win this hands down. "I streaked for him."

Lissa's jaw dropped. "You what?!"

I nodded, strangely proud of that first encounter. "I had taken a shower and Adrian had taken all of my clothes. The only option was the blanket on the back of the couch, so," I shrugged. "I streaked. Adrian had opened all the doors in the place though, including the front," I jerked my thumb at the door and slid Iolanthi further down the bench so she couldn't annoy me any more.

"And he was just standing there, watching you run naked through the lounge room?" Lissa confirmed.

"Yeah. And…Well," now came the most humiliating part. "I sort of did a victory dance as well."

"Naked?" Lissa gasped.

"Do I win?" I grinned, blushing faintly.

"Yeah," Lissa conceded. "You win. No wonder he froze at Tapenada when he saw sitting there…" she trailed off into silence while everything fell into place for her. "Do you plan on seeing him again?" she asked abruptly.

I rolled my eyes and stared at her as though she were stupid. "Are you blind? Did you see him?"

"I was a little more focused on Christian," Lissa said primly. She glanced at me and gave me a guilty smile. "But yes, I saw him."

"He's _hot_. You'd better believe I want to see him again," I fanned myself for extra effect.

"But what if he's like Jesse?" she asked. Typical. Lissa had been listening in on the conversation I'd had with Jesse at dinner and she knew exactly why I was pissed off at him.

"I wouldn't care," I answered, smirking.

"You wouldn't care that he just wants you for sex?" Lissa asked disbelievingly.

I smiled absent-mindedly. "Um… not really. Open your eyes and look at him again Lissa… But it's beside the point, anyway," I snapped myself out of my daydreams and assured my friend. "He doesn't act the same way. Part of me being annoyed with Jesse is just that he's too forward," I thought about him in comparison to Dimitri. "And he's not as attractive as I thought he was…"

Lissa laughed and flipped over the bacon. The smell was mouth watering and considering I hadn't actually finished my steak last night it smelled even _more_ absolutely brilliant than usual. I shoved Iolanthi away from me again and she mewed in protest.

"Damn this kitten is getting loud," I muttered to Lissa. I stared down at the green eyed creature. "You sure we can't rent her out as a foghorn?"

Lissa rolled her eyes overdramatically. "Pretty sure."

"That smells great," I commented, breathing in deeply. "I can almost taste it."

"I'll bet Adrian can smell it too," Lissa commented thoughtfully. "Maybe we should –"

"No way Lissa," I interrupted. "You are not inviting Adrian over here. He can live on his own and if you keep feeding him how will he ever learn to live in the wild?"

She laughed again. "You and Adrian really are funny, you know that?"

"Oh yeah, I'm sure we are," I rolled my eyes and picked up Iolanthi, sick of her attention demanding ways. "What's the matter Road-kill?" I asked, using my new nickname for the absurdly adorable piece of orange fluff.

"Why do you call her that?!" Lissa scolded, flipping the bacon onto our plates.

I shrugged. "Dog-food was getting old."

"Rose!"

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**Dimitri P.O.V**

SMACK! I dropped my hands and stepped away, lightly touching my cheekbone and staring, completely offended, at Ginger.

"What was that for?" I asked incredulously.

Ginger glared, her green eyes snapping and put her hands of her hips. "You should be paying more attention Dimitri. You're client just ran out the door."

I spun around, searching frantically for Nathan. "He's right there," I pointed across the room where the chubby man was running for his life on the treadmill. I spun back to Ginger in disbelief. "What do you mean, 'out the door'?"

Ginger scowled. "For all the attention you're paying to him he could have slit his wrists then hung himself by his feet with a power cord off the rafters and you wouldn't have noticed. What's got you so distracted Dimitri?"

"It's nothing," I muttered, sourly turning my back on Ginger. "I was just thinking about picking up Nada tonight." It was rare that anyone ever caught me off guard so I was a little insulted. My lack of vigilance, of course, had nothing to do with Nada and my almost parental duties to her but more to do with a visit I wished I would come sooner.

"No you're not," she scoffed. "Nada and I are going shopping after this. She's picking me up."

I glanced at her and then stalked to Nathan. Nada had asked to borrow my car today but I hadn't known she was going shopping.

"Just pay attention," Ginger said shortly, sweeping her tight brown curls out of her eyes. She took up a position beside me and watched Nathan struggle with the machine.

"Can I stop yet?" the man wheezed, his face completely red.

"Sure, take a break," I allowed. My instincts to tell him to keep going were barely repressed. As far as I knew he hadn't been on for more than five minutes and he was only jogging… But he obviously couldn't take any more.

Nathan started pushing all manner of buttons to get the machine to stop and I eventually leaned over and helped him. "Thanks," he gasped, sitting on the edge of the treadmill and gulping his water. I knelt down beside him and took the bottle away.

"Hey!" he protested, reaching for the water. "Give that back!"

"Only sip," I told him firmly. "You're starting up again in thirty seconds."

He groaned dramatically and fell backwards onto the machine, splaying his arms out and breathing heavily. It was ten am and I was watching the clock intently, half wishing the time would go faster so I could go visit her and half wishing it would slow down so Rose would have more time to get here.

Ginger knelt beside me and followed my gaze. "What's the matter?" she asked, grinning, her white teeth a stark contrast to her almond coloured skin. "Got a date?"

"No," I muttered furiously, looking back at Nathan and his pitiful form. "I just want to go home."

She looked at me suspiciously but let it drop.

Ginger was one of the few people I interacted with socially. We were pretty good friends even though we disagreed on a lot of things. Ginger was very controlling, always leading where I followed in exasperation. The only good thing about it was that she listened to my advice.

"Alright Nathan, come on, get up," I grabbed the pudgy man's arm and heaved him to his feet. He gave me a pitiful look and climbed back up onto the treadmill, beginning what he probably thought was his death jog. I glanced at the clock again.

"When do we finish?" Nathan panted.

"In fifty seven minutes and eight seconds," I replied quickly. I swept back a few stray strands of hair and averted my attention to Nathan. Ginger watched form the sidelines as I encouraged the huffing man to make it through the next hour.

I shot an annoyed glance at Ginger then turned around. "Don't you have your own clients?" I asked quickly.

She smiled in response. "She sprained her ankle," she said lightly. "She probably won't be coming back for the next few days."

I groaned and turned back to Nathan, alternating between rapidly increasing glances at the clock on the wall and encouraging words. After about fifteen minutes I added a new step to the rotation and I started glancing at the door. Ginger didn't miss it.

"Are you expecting someone?" she asked, suspicious again. "Who have you asked in? You've asked Daniel to take your sessions, haven't you?" she gasped suddenly. "You're not leaving are you? You're not actually quitting or anything?"

I laughed. "No, Ginger, I'm not leaving or quitting." How pathetic. Even Ginger, whom I spent eighteen hours a week with – not including socially – joked about me getting a date but thought so little of my social skills that she thought it more likely I was quitting my job.

"So what the hell are you looking for?" she asked, annoyed.

"I told you," I muttered again. "I just want to go home."

"And you won't elaborate on that?" she asked snappily.

For a small woman of only five two she could be incredibly intimidating. "No," I answered shortly.

"You know, you always speak quietly when you're lying," she mentioned casually. "And every time I ask you why you're so anxious you always answer in a murmur."

I didn't _always_ speak quietly when I was lying. I kept changing my tactics but Ginger kept guessing them. She was very good and knowing when people were lying to her. I hung my head and hoped she wouldn't press the matter. She didn't.

"Alright, let's pick up the pace a bit," I leaned over and pressed the level up button. Nathan gasped in horror and stopped running, flinging himself onto the conveyer belt and being shot backwards with the force of the treadmill. I rolled my eyes, just a little bit. "You're supposed to stay _on_ the treadmill Nathan," I told him gently. The pudgy man looked terrified.

"I can't _do_ a level up!" he wailed. "It's too fast!"

"How do you know until you try?" I asked him, turning off the treadmill and walking to his side.

"I can't do it!"

I spent the rest of the hour trying to coax my reluctant client back onto the treadmill, without success. It distracted me, however, from my furtive, painful glances at the clock. Hope was something I didn't hold in high regard; it was the cause of let-downs. Ginger giggled at me for the whole time, not offering her assistance once despite my pleading looks.

When finally I gave up and let Nathan run to the showers I sighed heavily and quickly looked at the clock.

"It's eleven fifteen," Ginger said in a bored voice. "I don't know where you want to go but you can go now."

"Thank God," I muttered quickly. I sprinted across the large room, dodging the familiar trainers and strange clients to get my bag. I hadn't done any exercises today so I didn't need to shower and I was lingering at the door before Ginger could register that I'd gone. I was only lingering at the door because I wasn't sure if I should leave or not. Maybe Rose would come late… If I left now I might miss her. I laughed at how desperate I sounded, even in my own head.

"What _are_ you doing?" Ginger asked, walking up to me with her stuff in hand.

"Um…" I stared at the clock. Eleven seventeen. "I'm not really sure."

Ginger huffed in frustration. "Well could you move?"

"What?"

"You're blocking the exit and some of us have social lives. Though with the way you've been acting I had started to wonder if you hadn't started a secret one," she teased.

Eleven eighteen. I sighed forlornly. She wasn't coming. "Yeah, right."

"Now what's wrong?" Ginger asked, exasperated. She had a very short temper and I was definitely getting on her nerves today.

"It's nothing," I glanced at the clock one final time before swinging open the door and exiting into the cool, refreshing air.

"Finally," I heard a familiar sarcastic tone. "You're half an hour late."

My head snapped towards the sound so fast I was surprised I didn't get whiplash. There was Rose, leaning against the wall and smirking at me. "Actually, it's closer to twenty minutes," I corrected her, grinning in a mixture of relief and happiness.

"Whatever," she rolled her eyes and returned the grin. "You're late."

"I didn't know you'd be waiting for me," I replied casually. Rose looked away from me and I followed her line of sight. Ginger was standing beside me, gaping open mouthed at Rose. I felt a minor irritation at her shock. Irritation that covered the embarrassment.

"I thought you would have known," her smirk returned. "Didn't we discuss this yesterday?" her dark brown eyes showed her good spirits when she returned her attention to me.

"In a roundabout way," I admitted. I looked down at Ginger, who hadn't moved an inch. "Would you mind waiting for a second?" I asked, completely unsure. "I just need to take care of something."

"Sure," she shrugged and leaned back against the wall. Watching me with those glorious dark eyes. I dragged both myself and Ginger away from her and to where my car was waiting, with Nada inside.

"Go shopping," I ordered, letting go of her arm when we reached the car. I was anxious to get back to where Rose stood, waiting for me.

Nada poked her head out the window and stared at me in shock. "What's the matter, Dimka?"

"It's nothing," I said for the third time that day.

Ginger grinned. "He wants to get back to his girlfriend," she commented slyly.

"Oh please," Nada scoffed. "Dimitri doesn't have a girlfriend."

"No, I don't," I took Ginger's bag and threw it into the back seat along with my own. "And you two can go now."

"Oh, admit it," Ginger teased. "You have a girlfriend. What's her name?"

"Rose. And she's not my girlfriend," I answered shortly.

"That girl from last night!" Nada squealed. "I knew it! I knew you liked her!"

"How?" I asked in exasperation. "I don't even know her that well."

"Dimitri, girls just know these things," my little sister answered sagely. "You shouldn't argue."

"But she's so pretty," Ginger smirked. "How on earth did you manage to get a girl like her?"

"That would be extremely insulting if I had 'managed to get her'. We're not dating or anything like that so you two can stop gossiping," I stalked around the car and opened the passenger side, guiding Ginger by the elbow.

"You like her," Ginger stated.

"Yes. Now goodbye," I closed the door and waited for the girls to leave. They sat there and grinned at me like Cheshire cats. "What?" I asked in exasperation.

"Kiss her," Ginger advised. And then they were gone.

I threw my hands in the air and muttered a few oaths in Russian before walking back to where Rose waited.

"Okay, what was that about?" she asked in amusement. I'd forgotten that the whole exchange would have been seen by anybody exiting the building, or for that matter, anyone leaning against it.

"Just Nada and Ginger being… Nada and Ginger," I answered truthfully. "Why didn't you come in?" I asked, gesturing to the gym. I motioned her to walk with me and to my pleasure she did.

"Because I didn't want to interrupt you working," she shrugged, flipping her dark hair over her shoulder. My eyes followed the movement then came back to rest on her face.

"For the last forty minutes I was trying to convince someone to get on a treadmill," I laughed. "You wouldn't have been interrupting much."

She laughed with me. "How often does that happen?"

I shrugged. "Quite often lately. I've just gotten some new clients," I couldn't tear my eyes away from her very often and when I did it was to glance at my surroundings to make sure I was going in the right direction.

Rose stared up the street then looked back at me. "Where are we going?" she asked.

"Just around the corner there's an ice-cream parlour," I smiled. "Have you ever had New Zealand ice-cream?"

She shook her head then laughed. "I really think you've got this foreign thing messed up. First Spain the New Zealand. What's next? Greece?"

I laughed with her and we continued down the road.

**That was so much fun! I find it much easier to write from a guy's perspective, thanks to the main character of my book obnoxiously deciding to be a boy. Hope you enjoyed this chapter.**

**Nathan was dedicated to all those people just like me who just can't seem to do the next level up.**

**Review, dammit! Review and your life will be spared…**


	18. Surely Not

**Back to Rose's P.O.V! You know, I'm always tempted to call her Rosie…**

**Oh s*** I completely forgot disclaimers for the past 15 chapters…**

**Disclaimer: I have never, do not, and will never own anything aside my laptop and my genius. And Hayley, Nada, Ginger, Nathan and all those side characters I'm sure you all love so much.**

**Now then, to answer some questions:**

**To everyone who reviewed: yes, your lives are spared. Anyone else, however...**

**To natz. No, I don't live in New Zealand, I live in Australia. Same hemisphere though.**

**Right! On with the story!**

**Chapter 18 – Surely Not...**

"What's wrong with you?" Lissa asked suspiciously when I walked through the front door. I stared at her, completely lost.

"Nothing," I replied airily. "I'm perfectly fine."

"I can tell," Lissa observed dryly. "But what went wrong to make you that happy? Did you break someone's nose again?"

I rolled my eyes dramatically. "No, Liss, I didn't hit anyone today, on purpose or on accident. Though I wouldn't mind finding Adrian…"

"No need to look, Rose," the annoyingly obnoxious voice sung from the lounge. I looked around Lissa to see Adrian seated at the couch, Christian sitting next to him. I groaned in despair.

"Well, there goes my good mood," I snapped.

"We're here too Rose!" Mason poked his head over the top of the second couch and grinned, his smoky grey eyes flashing with humour. I managed a smile. This was one of the times I was glad Mason was my friend. It was a pity he wanted more.

"So if you didn't hit anyone…" Hayley's green eyes came into view beside her cousins. "What happened?"

"I just had a good day," I said shortly, looking between Mason and Adrian and hoping Hayley could take a hint.

"Why?" Apparently not.

"Because I did," I answered huffily. "Now if you don't mind, I'm going to my room."

"Would you like some company?" Adrian offered quickly. I stalked past him and slapped the back of his head as I went. Mason glared at him and Christian looked, completely indifferent, at the T.V.

Once I was in my room, alone, I grinned again. New Zealand ice-cream actually tasted really good… But it might have had something to do with the person I was with. I still wasn't sure if seeing him today, twelve hours after I'd last seen him was to desperate but I didn't care. It had been fun. We'd talked about families and places we'd been and places we'd like to see. Dimitri was a bit funny like that. He had seen a lot of the world. Well, at least more than me. But his list of places to go was longer than mine. I guess travelling has its downsides, you always want to go somewhere else.

"Rose?" the knock on the door was a bit unnecessary, considering it was open.

"Yeah?" I asked, quickly turning on my heel and snapping out of my memories. Lissa and Hayley stood at the entrance to my room, shooting furtive glances over their shoulders and smiling broadly. They crept through the door and closed it softly, as if not wanting to wake a sleeping beast.

"How was it?" Hayley whispered, treading carefully to the bed.

"Huh?" I asked, feigning ignorance. "How was what?"

Lissa rolled her eyes in the style that I usually used. "Don't play dumb Rose," she whispered as well, following Hayley's example and seating herself on my bed. I perched on the very edge of the quilt. "I know you went to see Dimitri. You disappeared at half past ten! And just before that you were talking about seeing him again."

"I didn't think you were listening," I muttered darkly. Damn Lissa and her tendency to listen all the time.

"So how was it?" Lissa echoed Hayley's words.

"Oh my god! She's blushing!" Hayley exclaimed in hushed tones.

"I'm what?!" I asked in the same manner. I touched my fingers to my cheek and felt the heat that was coming off my cheeks in waves. Oh please don't tell me I'd been blushing my whole life without feeling it! That had to be impossible.

Lissa giggled. "Your blushing," she told me slowly.

"Yeah, whatever," I stared moodily at my bed.

"Well?" Hayley pressed.

"What do you want me to tell you?" I asked, hissing.

"What _happened_," Lissa explained exaggeratedly.

"We got ice-cream, we talked and we went for a really quick walk," I hissed. "Why are we speaking so quietly?"

"The boys don't know what we're talking about," Lissa whispered conspiratorially. "We'd like to keep it that way."

I sighed heavily and rolled my eyes.

"What else happened?" Hayley asked. "Why are you blushing?"

"I don't know," I answered. "Nothing really happened, we talked is all."

Hayley and Lissa exchanged a glance and I huffed angrily.

"You don't believe me do you?" I asked.

"Well, think about it Rose," Hayley tried to sate me. "It's three in the afternoon. You've been gone for four and a half hours. You were with Dimitri for most of that time and you expect us to believe that nothing at all happened between the two of you?"

"Yes," I replied, shocked. "I do expect you to believe that because _nothing happened_."

"Yeah, right," Lissa smirked.

I turned to her with an evil smile. "Shall I tell Hayley what you were doing last night?" I demanded.

Lissa froze. "That's completely different," she insisted.

"How?" I imitated her earlier smirk. I turned to Hayley. "Last night Lissa didn't come home. She stayed at Christian's apartment the whole night. Which, might I add, is way more than four and a half hours and it was _night_."

Hayley gasped appropriately then shuffled forward, towards Lissa, eager for information. "You stayed at Christian's place? The _whole_ night?"

"Yes," Lissa blushed a deep shade of scarlet. "But nothing happened!"

I grinned evilly. I caught Hayley's eye and we exchanged the look.

"Hey!" Lissa exclaimed, offended. "It's true! We just fell asleep!"

"Together? In a bed?" Hayley pressed.

"No," Lissa muttered. "On the couch. But it's completely different. I'm me and Rose is Rose!"

"Great observation Liss, I don't think anyone else could have picked that," I saluted her.

Lissa looked at me desperately and I raised my eyebrows. _You know the price_, I said with facial expression alone.

"Fine, nothing happened in the four and a half hours you were with Dimitri except you talked. And nothing happened between Christian and me last night except we watched a movie. Are you happy?" she asked snappily. I grinned.

Hayley seemed to sense the mutual cease-fire and didn't speak a word on either case. "So what is he like? Is he another Jesse?" she asked the last part sympathetically. I glared at Lissa. She'd obviously been sharing theories.

"What?" she shrugged. "She got her two hours ago! What was I supposed to say?"

I sighed and then smiled brightly, launching into a far more detailed description of my day with Dimitri than just ' We got ice-cream, we talked and we went for a really quick walk'. Hayley and Lissa were a good audience and they were completely into all the little things I'd noticed about him. Like the silences he'd sometimes lapse into, the things he told me and the useless bits of information he had probably thought was trivial but to us, it was like opening little doors to see exactly what he wanted form me. By the end of the hour we'd spent discussing his behavior and words we hadn't come to a conclusion. We would have, undoubtedly kept chatting through the night but at that moment there was a light rapping on the door and we all fell silent, staring at the door forebodingly.

Mason poked his head into the room and was met with the sight of three somber girls, sitting cross-legged in the middle of a large white bed, staring at him as though he had just interrupted a mass.

"Um… Hayley, we need to go," Mason looked embarrassed and honestly, a little frightened.

"Of course," Hayley stood sedately and walked calmly across the room, none of us removing our eyes from the intruder. "See ya later girls," Hayley said, smiling at us and disappearing into the hall. Mason remained, standing awkwardly in our line of sight.

"Right, well… bye," he muttered, backing out of the door with his hands in his pockets. He gave a small bashful wave and then he was gone.

"Well that was weird," Lissa mentioned happily, turning back to me. "So anyway -"

"Hi, I just thought I'd say that I'm leaving…" Adrian's gaze swept the room, registering our blank expressions and then he backed out of the room without another word.

"Should we wait for the next one or do you think he's not coming?" I asked playfully, twiddling a piece of hair between two fingers.

"Hey," Christian marched straight into the room, not feeling the awkward _You've interrupted something crucially important to the existence of mankind_ vibes we were sending out. He hugged an unresponsive Lissa. "I'm leaving. I love you."

"I love you too," Lissa smiled warmly and we both watched him exit. There was silence until we heard the front door click into place from outside.

"What the hell?!" I screeched, standing up in excitement. "He said he loves you! Wait…" I calmed down, putting aside my 'best friend' role for now. "I don't like him…"

Lissa blushed. "Well I do. If I said I didn't like Dimitri would that stop you from seeing him?"

"No, but as you pointed out, you're you and I'm me," I remarked. "I never do what I'm told."

"And for once, neither will I," she stated proudly.

I rolled my eyes and put my feet on the ground, standing and walking back out into the lounge room. Lissa followed and Iolanthi padded after us, appearing from her favourite haunt, the laundry.

"You know, I think we should invite those guys over here more often," I commented to Lissa, the Lounge room was cleaner than when we had left it. "You think they made a mess and felt guilty so the cleaned up the whole thing or do you think they just decided to be nice?" I said the last part with thick sarcasm.

"Well, I think they're nice anyway," she stated, stopping at the front door. "I need to go and get food or we'll die," she told me, turning the handle. Something about the way she was looking at me made me suspicious.

"Are you coming home this time?" I asked dryly.

She blushed. "Of course, I'm just going shopping."

"Uh-huh."

She smiled at me and then closed the door softly behind her, leaving me standing there, completely alone in an empty apartment with a small, irritating cat and some furniture.

I tried as hard as I could not to pull out the piece of paper I knew was in my pocket. On that little piece of paper was Dimitri's phone number. It was a little low tech but as I no longer owned a cell phone it was the best I could do. My fingers itched and I stared intently at the phone. Maybe he would call me. Maybe he wouldn't. But it would seem desperate right? I mean, I didn't even know him! I shouldn't be calling him and hour after a date... A date? Was it a date?

I had just started to hyperventilate when the shrill notes of the phone pierced the air. I dove for the cradle and snatched up the phone, not even waiting for the first ring to finish.

"Hello?" I asked, breathless and excited.

"Hey Rosie!"

"What do you want, Adrian?" I asked sourly, my mood dropping through all six floors and landing in the lobby.

"I just wanted to talk to you," he sung happily.

"Yeah," I growled into the phone. "What happened? Did you break your legs?"

"Why must there always be an emergency for me to call you?" he asked. There was a muffled banging in the background.

"Okay, you should never call me, even if there is an emergency and that wasn't what I was referring to. Why the hell can't you walk to my door? It's all of seven meters away from yours," I snapped.

"Well, I'm a little preoccupied right now," he grunted and there was a solid clang as steel met something that sounded suspiciously like a bench.

"What are you doing? Trying to massacre your kitchen?"

"Now, now, Rosie, the sarcasm is completely –" he cut off suddenly and there was more clanging and crashing. "Unnecessary," he finished, panting.

"Really?" I asked dryly, moving towards the hallway and pressing my ear to the wall. "Do you mind just telling me what you're doing?"

"Well, I could use a little help," he admitted. "Do you mind coming over here?"

"Are you going to tell me what you're –" the phone went dead and I stared at it as though it had insulted me. Another crash echoed through the wall and resounded in my apartment. "What the hell?"

I walked back out into the lounge room and through the kitchen, on my way returning the phone to its cradle. As I exited the apartment I turned and locked the door, not sure what Adrian was planning on.

I walked, unsure to his apartment and peered through the open door. The scene before me made me gasp.

"ADRIAN! What the hell do you _think_ you are doing?!"

**Okay, that was fun to write but I am so pissed off right now. **

**AAAARRRRGGGGGHHHH!!!! For all of you that don't know this, I have a laptop. My laptop is my life. The reason this was not updated the other day was because my laptop needed to be re-imaged. For those of you who aren't tech-savvy, that means it needed to have its memory wiped and the programs reloaded.**

**Now, my school runs a 'laptop program' which means students who wish to pay for a laptop get one and are allowed use it in class. Because laptops are prone to blowing up in your freaking face we have two IT (Information Technology) people hanging around in a place commonly referred to as The House.**

**Now, I took my laptop down for a simple re-imaging and guess what? They found a problem. Now, these IT guys are okay, but sometimes I wonder at their intelligence. When they found the problem they tried to re-image my hard drive, and once again for all you technophobes that means they re-imaged the very core of my computer. Smart Move. I went to collect it the next day and surprise, surprise, it was broken. Dead.**

**And I quote: "Your laptop is dead. D E D dead."**

**Now, I always knew they were illiterate but this just blew me out of the water. D E D? I'm sorry?**

**Turns out I need a new hard drive. Until I get that, I'm stuck using the school computer to which I have a time span of two hours a day on, if I'm lucky, or using my dad's pre-historic laptop that whirs its gears so loud I can't hear myself think.**

**Upon getting the news I walked outside and promptly started crying brokenly. Feeling guilty the IT guys brought me back in and guess what they did? They gave me my laptop, now a relic to writing and all the hours I spent possessively hovering over it...**

**Yeah, I'm a little annoyed, a little amused and a little depressed. According to my Physical Education teacher (who **_**doesn't**_** know the fate of my loyal laptop) I am suffering from severe distress and according to my Religion teacher I'm suffering from grief and loss. Now, between the two I think they've hit the nail on the head, so to speak.**

**So I'm sorry this chapter didn't come up as fast as I wanted it too and I'm sorry that from now on there will be a time-span of about a week between every update. Blame the guys at The House. They broke it.**

**I am now questing for something new I can stroke possessively because my laptop used to be the only piece of technology I talked to on a regular basis. According to most of my friends I'll "get over it, it's only a laptop."**

**Easy for them to say. **_**Their**_** hard drives are perfectly healthy.**

**Anyway.**

**REVIEW. It makes me happy and I'm not happy right now...**


	19. Truth Or Dare

**I love you all! You made me so happy with reviews and I got sympathy! I've decided to use my dad's pre-historic laptop even though it kills my head. I decided to listen to my Mp3 so loud that it drowns out everything else.**

**Here's your chapter!**

**Chapter 19 – Truth or Dare**

I couldn't see Adrian anywhere in the apartment, which was practically a mirror image to mine and Lissa's. All I could see was furniture, broken or otherwise, splayed across the floor. The kitchen was a complete mess. I heard another crash and hurried through the lounge and into the hallway, following a trail of kitchen appliances. Adrian was standing there, in the middle of the hall.

"Adrian!" I yelled, blocking my ears as he beat the wall with a frying pan.

"Hi Rosie!" he sang happily, continuing to beat the crap out of the wall plaster.

"Adrian what the fuck is wrong with you?!" I screamed, livid.

He stopped beating the frying pan against the wall and swept his hair back with his free hand. "Nothing. Why do you ask?"

I gaped at him, completely stunned. Adrian wasn't insane, was he? Then I smelt the alcohol.

"You've been drinking!" I accused, snatching the frying pan out of his grip and bringing it down over his head. "Are you crazy? You've broken your apartment!"

Adrian was wincing when he looked up at me with a pitiful expression. "I didn't break it," he defended. "I was just trying to get you to visit."

"What the hell for?" I asked in exasperation. "To kill you and stop this maniacal rampage through your home? Congratulations, I've stopped it and you've succeeded," I brought the frying pan down again.

"Ow," he whined. "I wanted you over here because I wanted to have a drink with you."

I gaped at him again. "You tried to get me over here to get me drunk by beating your wall and furniture with a frying pan?!"

"And other things," he said, pointing at the trail of cutlery, pots and electrical appliances. While I was distracted Adrian lunged forward and made a desperate grab for the frying pan, succeeding in ripping it from my fingers. I picked up the nearest pot and hefted it menacingly.

"Don't make me get violent, Ivashkov," I threatened darkly. "Because I will."

He cowered against the wall, a small smile on his lips. "I've seen you get violent, I'm not scared," he stated bravely.

"You've never seen me get violent," I hissed, my eyes narrowing. "I will cause you intense pain."

He glanced furtively behind him, toward a door. "I doubt that," he squeaked, obviously measuring the distance between himself and the door.

"Don't even think about running, Ivashkov," I growled. "I will hunt you down."

He squeaked out an incomprehensible word then shot for the door. I followed, swinging the steel pot above my head and screaming profanities. I honestly should know Adrian better by now.

When he got inside the room he darted behind the door and I, quite stupidly, ran right into the room after him. When the door closed I felt like I was in a jail cell. I felt the blood drain from my face as I turned to face my smirking captor.

"Let me out, Ivashkov," I said quietly.

"Aw but Rosie," he grinned. "I've got you right where I want you."

"Aw but Adie," I mimicked his form of address. "I've got a steel pot right where I want it."

I hefted the pot and raised my eyebrows. Adrian returned the gesture, holding the frying pan above his head and waving it. He smelt like alcohol but he didn't look or act drunk...

Oh well, it didn't matter. If this turned into a kitchen appliances fight I would win. "Bring it."

"En guarde!" he cried, leaping forward.

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A soft mewing welcomed me home an hour later.

"Hey baby girl," I sang, using Lissa's nickname for Iolanthi. "What's up?"

The little kitten sat on the bench and looked at me, cocking her fuzzy head to one side.

"Lissa will be home any moment now," I looked at the clock. "Otherwise we'll both starve."

I threw myself down on the couch and stretched my arms out in front of me, calmly examining the bruises littering my arms. Adrian was way worse off than me. At least there was that. I smiled smugly and thought about how many bruises Adrian would be sporting come morning. That would teach him to mess with Rose Hathaway.

At that moment the phone rang and I eyed it suspiciously, expecting Adrian to be stabbing jell-o or something and asking me to come over and help him. I sighed and propelled myself from the couch, grabbing the phone before putting it distrustfully to my ear.

"Hello?"

"Hello," a woman's voice floated from the receiver, a Russian accent evident in her words. "This is Rose, yes?"

"Um, yeah. This is Nada?"

"Yes," the happiness in Nada's voice echoed through the phone. "You are dating Dimitri?"

Well... this was abrupt. "Um... I guess. I don't know. Am I?"

"Yes, you are. There are some things about Dimitri you should know," Nada stated calmly. I paused briefly. Oh god, he wasn't gay was he?

"Like what things?" I asked suspiciously.

"Nada!" I heard and already achingly familiar voice shout, astonished and annoyed. "Who are you talking to?"

"No one," Nada squeaked. "If he gets the phone, hang up!" she suddenly shouted. I had to hold the receiver away from my ear so that she wouldn't deafen me. There were the sounds of a quick struggle on the other end of the line before silence.

"Hello?" I laughed into the phone, waiting for one of the siblings to pick up. I wasn't sure who I wanted to answer most. At least not until I heard his voice.

"Rose, is that you?" Dimitri asked, chuckling. "Nada, don't you dare."

"Sounds like you're having fun," I said, trying to hear whatever Nada was doing in the background. "What's she doing?"

"She's trying to get the phone back," he laughed. I remembered the height difference between the two, Nada didn't even reach Dimitri's shoulders.

"Tell her good luck for me," I laughed with him.

He relayed the message to Nada which resulted in a string of what I presumed were swear words, but it was said in Russian so I couldn't tell.

"You'll regret this!" She yelled. "Both of you!"

I bit my lip as I considered Nada's advice of hanging up. But that would mean I'd sit up all night, staring at the phone and wishing he would call me at some obscene hour.

A heard a door close and faint banging on the wood. "She's gone," Dimitri said happily.

"I guessed," I said dryly, imagining an angry Nada, screaming in Russian at her older brother who was standing on the other side of the door... talking to me.

"Why was she calling you?" he asked, a suspicious edge to his voice. "What did she say?"

"I don't know," I giggled. "You interrupted before she could get to the point. She did say that there are some things I should know about you. I'm half tempted to ask her to call me back later, when you're not home," I teased playfully.

"Thank god I got to the phone," he muttered. "There are all manner of things that I'm sure Nada would love to tell you. I'll never let her get near a phone again."

"Well if she won't tell me then you'll have to and I have a feeling that would be much more embarrassing for you," I ran to the couch and resumed my earlier position, huddled up against the arm of the chair.

"I don't think so," he laughed. "You wouldn't be able to drag one thing out of me."

"Oh?" I sat up. "You know I don't respond well to challenges. I tend to take people up on them. And Nada will be here to tell me if you're lying about information."

"We'll be there in ten minutes," he said simply, and then hung up. I grinned. Then I panicked. He was coming here? How the hell did he reach that conclusion? I jumped off the couch and looked around me frantically. Everything was tidy but I knew immediately that I looked a mess. My hair was probably mussed from my tangle with Adrian and the kitchen utensils. I ran to the bathroom and eyed myself in the mirror. Ten minutes. No time for a proper shower. I had to move. I pulled a brush through my hair and ran back to my room, looking for a shirt that would cover my newly developing bruises.

"Damn Adrian," I hissed, flipping through my drawers at lightning speed. "Damn him and his stupid pan fetish."

I found a long sleeved red shirt and I threw it on over my jeans. Jewellery? Screw jewellery. I slowed down. _Remember to breathe Rose, remember to breathe. Nada is coming too... You don't even know Nada!_ I threw myself back into a frenzy, panicking as I stalked around the kitchen like a caged animal. Iolanthi watched me calmly from her perch, probably wondering why I was acting like an idiot.

Knocking. I spun and stared at the door, lunging forward and ripping it open only to see Lissa standing there, practically glowing and carrying a thousand grocery bags.

"Lissa! I exclaimed, pulling her into the apartment and taking bags of her arms. "We aren't feeding an army you know!"

"There were some things on sale," she said, offended.

"What? The supermarket?"

"And we're stocking up."

"Yeah," I rolled my eyes. "So we don't have to come out of our cave during winter."

Lissa watched me dart back and forth, putting groceries away at a fanatic pace. "What's got you all worked up? And why did you lock Christian out?"

I froze, mid-run to the pantry. "What?"

Lissa sighed and went to the door, opening it for her new boyfriend.

"You were grocery shopping too, hey Christian?" I said sarcastically. I returned to my frenzied soup stacking. "And I'm worked up because Dimitri and Nada will be here in," I glanced at the clock on the wall. "Three minutes."

Christian walked into the kitchen and smirked at me, placidly working alongside Lissa and putting away the vegetables.

"Dimitri and Nada? Well, why don't we invite Hayley and Mason over again?"

"Because they were here an hour ago!" I said in exasperation. Of course, that was lost on Lissa as she was already dialling. I threw my hands up in the air, clutching an apple in each hand. "This is crazy."

"Correction," Christian said calmly. "You're crazy."

He might have been right but it didn't stop me from glaring as I panicked.

"They're coming over," Lissa sang, hanging up. "They'll be here soon. I'll go get Adrian! We'll have a party!"

"Lissa no–"

Lissa was already darting out the door, grinning like a Cheshire cat.

"You were wrong, she's the one who's crazy. What's with her and her habit of liking people?" I grumbled at Christian. He grinned but gave me no other reply.

"Hey Rosie!" Adrian walked into our apartment with an easy familiarity that made me grit my teeth.

"Hey Adie!" I replied sourly.

All the groceries were away and there was nothing left to occupy my attention. I felt like ripping my hair out by the roots. Things around this place were insane and disastrous.

Knocking. "Oh shit," I cursed quietly. Lissa, of course, answered the door.

"Hello," she said brightly. She ushered both Dimitri and Nada into the lounge room. I was standing in the middle of the kitchen, apparently freaking out while everybody moved around me. Dimitri gave me an amused smile and I drifted over to where he was, hoping that maybe his presence would calm me down. The worst part of him coming here was over.

He raised an eyebrow and stared pointedly at all the people present. "What happened?" he laughed.

I grimaced. "I wasn't expecting the cavalry either," I admitted, watching my 'friends' talk in the kitchen. "But Lissa insisted we have a party."

"Then let her have her party," he shrugged. "I find the easiest way to handle Nada is let her have it her own way."

"You wouldn't let her speak to me," I commented slyly.

He smiled. "No, as much as you think it would be less embarrassing for her to tell you," he shook his head ruefully. "Nada makes every story about me sound ten times worse than it actually is. She'll tell you I live under a rock."

"Do you?" I asked playfully.

He grinned and looked over my head at Nada and Lissa who were already deep in conversation. "I don't think so but Nada finds my life style… stifling. She doesn't get to see people as often as she'd like with me."

I looked over at the short brunette, leaning across the counter and speaking animatedly with Lissa. Every now and then she'd forget a word and substitute in a Russian equivalent. Luckily Lissa had studied Russian for a while in college so it wasn't hard for her to keep up.

"They seem to be getting along," Dimitri observed.

"Lissa gets along with everyone," I said, distaste evident in my tone. "She'd make friends with a serial killer if she could and talk to the judge until they let him off on bail."

Dimitri laughed.

"I'm not kidding," I assured him. "Lissa can talk her way out of absolutely anything. And consequently talk any one else out of their trouble as well. She's got a gift. Everybody loves her," I regarded my best friend with a mixture of pride and exasperation. She had one of the best and worst gifts in the world. Trust.

We stood in silence for a moment, watching the interaction in the kitchen, neither of us feeling the necessity for talk or socialization.

"Hey, guys, you gonna let us in?" a female voice giggled from outside. Nada was the closest to the door and it swung open to reveal Hayley and Mason, both grinning from ear to ear. Ah, Monday night. What other purpose did it have than to annoy the hell out of you? Mason and Hayley took a moment to recognize Nada but when they did it was warm welcomes all around. Was I the only sane person in this room? Dimitri was smiling beside me and I groaned. This was not going to be fun.

"Okay, we're not waiting for anybody else?" Nada asked, walking into the lounge room placidly.

"Yeah, that's it," Lissa confirmed brightly as she led the rest of the gang from the kitchen to the lounge.

"Good," Nada nodded. She and Lissa started pushing the couches to the very edge of the room. Everybody else looked completely confused.

"What are you doing?" I asked, being the only person in this little get together with enough wits to ask.

"We're playing truth or dare," Lissa grinned evilly.

**Tee-hee. Lot's of fun, lot's of fun. Originally this chapter was going to continue on until they actually got to the entire point of the truth or dare but when I realised this was six pages in a word doc I thought screw it. You guys can wait. And my fingers a tired.**


	20. Kisses, Gay Love And Strip Chicken Oh My

**You people are so damn lucky... this chapter actually took me every second I spent on the computer this week. It's killing me. I was editing and editing and editing and editing and editing and... you get the message.**

**I am **_**really**_** sorry it's so late. Like, seriously sorry. My 'beta reader' didn't actually get around to beta-reading until… well, actually she never did. We had exams and although she reads a lot of fanfiction she sucks at getting things in on time. But I digress. I give you…**

**Chapter 20 – Kisses, Gay Love And Strip Chicken, Oh My!**

I stared at Lissa and Nada, utterly dumbfounded. "You want to play truth or dare?"

"It was Nada's idea," Lissa shrugged. Nada continued grinning. Hayley started smiling and she sat suddenly, cross legged on the floor.

"I _love_ truth or dare!" Hayley declared happily.

"Yeah, a little too much," Mason grumbled. He sat next to where I was standing, gaping at Lissa and Nada. "We might as well get this over with."

Slowly everyone sat, until only Nada was standing, grinning at everyone like a child with a lollipop.

"This will not end well," Dimitri whispered from my left. I wasn't sure if he was talking to himself or to me but I half smiled in response.

"These pieces of paper," Nada flourished the said squares. "Each have a number on them," she smiled at the seven people on the floor before her. "Rose or Lissa, do either of you have a hat of some sort?"

Lissa jumped to her feet and ran out of the room, returning with a hat clasped victoriously in her hand. "Here you go Nada," she beamed, taking her seat next to Hayley and Christian once again.

"Thank you," she winked. "I'm going to put the copies of these pieces of paper in the hat. Everyone is going to pick one number from the hat."

I put up my hand like you do in kindergarten until Nada noticed me. "How long have you been planning this?" I asked suspiciously.

"Ever since Dimitri told me we were coming over," she beamed.

"That's what she was doing in the car," Dimitri groaned quietly. I grinned but settled down again, ready for the torture to begin.

"When you pick the number, you keep it with you. Don't tell anybody what your number is," she explained as she moved around the circle, holding out the hat to Christian and Lissa, then Hayley and Mason. "Then I'll put the copies of the numbers into this hat," I drew out a number and peered at it curiously. A bold 7 was drawn in the centre of the paper. "And someone will draw out a number and ask truth or dare to the person with said number," she finished her circuit of the room and stood in the centre of the circle. "Does everybody understand?"

A chorus of yes's echoed through the room, some dismal, some retired and some excited.

"Lissa will pick the first number," Nada beamed, dropping the spare numbers into the hat and offering it to Lissa.

Lissa demurely put her hand into the hat and drew out a slip of paper. We all waited, myself included, with baited breath. The excitement of this ridiculous game was getting to me.

"Four," Lissa said, looking up from the slip of paper.

Adrian grinned and jumped to his feet. "No need to ask, I already pick dare."

I smiled wickedly. Lissa could be evil sometimes, despite her shy, bashful exterior. Truth or Dare was not a game she played lightly, as I had learned in our senior year at college. Mason had been a part of that fateful game and he leaned back easily, knowing Lissa's uncanny habit for humiliation.

Lissa paused, looking thoughtful. "Okay, Adrian. You have five seconds to change your mind," she turned to him, expression and tone deadpan. Adrian remained, grinning from ear to ear at the queen of mortifying dares. "Alright, you seal your own fate," she said eerily.

"Bring it on, Lissa," Adrian rubbed his hands together. He had no idea what he was in for.

"Adrian. I dare you..." she trailed off, the evil cogs in her mind working a million miles an hour. Then she smiled. "I dare you to go down to the lobby and set off the fire alarm."

"Oh please," he scoffed already half way to the door. "That's no problem at all." I must admit, I was a little disappointed. Lissa's genius had failed.

"That's not all Adrian," she called to him as the door opened.

Adrian turned with a condescending smile. "What else could there be?" he asked. "You've given me my dare. Now I'm going to complete it."

Lissa gave him a wicked smile. "Adrian," she asked, mimicking his tone. "Do you honestly think my dare to you would consist of you walking downstairs and setting off the fire alarm? You would be able to walk out almost as soon as you set it off and then no one would see you."

"Fine," he said, a little irritated. "I'll stick around until everyone's there. Can I go and do this now?"

"One more thing," Lissa said, arching her eyebrows. "As soon as everyone is down there, seal the front doors and then stand on the receptionists desk and proclaim your love for Mason."

"What?!" two voices chorused.

"Well it's not like I'm asking you to kiss or anything," she replied, shrugging her frail, evil shoulders. I wondered what Christian thought of his girlfriends evil antics.

"Why does an apartment building even have a receptionist?" Dimitri asked me.

"Well, the first two floors aren't really residential. They're basically hotel rooms," I explained. "So they have all the necessities for a hotel, including a receptionist."

Adrian stood at the door and gaped at Lissa openly. "Can we redraw?" he asked pathetically.

Nada grinned. "No redraws. Just think, after this you get to pick a number and dare someone to do something."

He groaned and closed the door. "I choose truth," he declared, trying to weedle his way out of Lissa's dare.

"Too late," Christian said happily. "You have the dare, now you_ have _to do it."

Adrian groaned again and slowly let the door swing open. "I suppose you all want to see this?"

There was a small scramble as everyone got to their feet and rushed to the door. We took the stairs at the far end of the hall instead of the elevator and hysterical laughter echoed on the walls around us.

"Lissa's cruel," Hayley commented, rushing down the steps beside me.

"She learnt from me," I stated proudly.

We reached the lobby, much to the shock of the lone receptionist.

"Excuse me," Adrian moved up behind the desk and the blonde receptionist swung to watch him walk to the fire bell. "I've accidentally lit up my apartment."

Something about his demeanour told me that Adrian was going to go all out on this. He would take acting to the next level if necessary. I was just worried he'd take the rest of us down with him.

The alarm sounded through the building, calling all the residents out onto the street. There was a rush of stumbling feet from the level above us and Adrian shot to the door, swinging the heavy glass until it locked with a resounding click. The seven of us shrank back into the shadows, trying to blend in as the first lot of people thundered down the stairs

"If you could please direct yourselves to the receptionists desk we would be most grateful," he said over their murmuring. It wasn't a very impressive wave of people, to be honest. Just a small family. I found myself feeling pity for the two young girls who were about to be scarred for life. But it would be a hilarious scarring.

Another wave of people came down, including our entire floor. There were about thirty people in all, standing there, all about to hear Adrian's brave declaration.

"I appreciate your co-operation," Adrian shouted over the babbling of the crowd. Silence fell.

I buried my head in my hands and watched the ensuing scene with a mixture of awe and amusement. Adrian allowed himself a final grimace before he climbed bravely onto the desk and turned to face the confused crowd.

"My friends," he spoke, voice brimming with emotion. "Tonight, I regret to inform you that there is no fire," a round of groans split the silence. "No, friends, there is no fire except the fire in my heart!"

I stifled a quick giggle as once again the audience fell silent.

"Tonight is the night I announce my decision. Tonight, I tell you all that I, Adrian Ivashkov, am gay."

More silence greeted his daring proclamation of gay love. A few smirks and raised eyebrows were passed.

"And now I introduce you to the flame of my heart, Mason Ashford," he held out his hand to Mason who scowled from the shadows. Needless to say the entire lobby shifted until they could see poor Mason. I bravely shoved him out of the shadows and gave him a quick thumbs up.

Mason drew his finger across his throat discreetly before stepping out into the light. "You've forgotten, dear," Mason snarled. "That we are no longer a couple. In fact, you also forgot that we never were. And that I'm straight! And..." he turned back to the shadows and the glint in his eye had me worried. "And that I'm already in love."

I found myself dragged out of the shadows, standing with Mason in what was supposed to be Adrian's humiliation.

Adrian staggered backwards dramatically, coming very close to stepping off the edge of his stage. "But Mason! You didn't say that last night when you came over to my apartment! You were so willing!"

Mason flushed and glared defiantly at Adrian. I noticed that my hand was still clasped in Mason's and he dragged me forward when he advanced on Adrian. "I was willing?! I wasn't at your apartment last night you insane gay man! I was with Rose!"

I bit my lip, preventing any other hysterical giggles from escaping.

"I'm sorry Adrian," I sighed wistfully.

"But..." Adrian floundered for a brief second. Then he recovered. Something seemed to happen in that moment and I knew immediately that I would like it. "I was trying to dump you nicely Mason, but you leave me no option," he stalked as far forward as he could on the receptionists desk and jumped off. The lobby watched the transpiring conversation as though they were watching a particularly good play. I almost expected one of them to pull out opera glasses.

"What?" Mason asked, as confused by the sudden plot twist as anyone else.

"I don't love you," he declared dramatically, stepping forward until he and Mason were only inches apart. "I love... her," he pointed to me, and before I could react in any way, Adrian had swept me up in his arms and was pressing his lips to mine. An audible gasp arose from the crowd. I was too stunned to react. Why was Adrian kissing me?

When we broke apart I could see most of the crowd staring at us in shock. Occasionally one of them would murmur about the strange turn of events. I decided it was time to turn the tables.

I stepped back a very small step and raised my hand, slapping Adrian quite nicely across his cheek. It was part revenge, part play. Okay, it was mostly revenge.

"I know you slept with my sister," I screamed. The crowd gasped again. "Don't you dare touch me, ever again!" I dragged Lissa out of the shadows, presenting her to the crowd who gasped appropriately.

Adrian's eyes were watering as he looked back at me. "But Rose," he managed, acting really choked up. Or really hurt... "We only did it once!" I wondered how everyone else was taking this sudden four way love.

"It was enough," I yelled, dramatically distraught. "I never dreamed I'd walk in on you! And in that position too! Really, have you no shame you gay man?!"

"Do you want to know why I'm gay?" Adrian yelled, tears still standing in his eyes. "Because you're so bad in bed! How could I ever want another woman after everything you put me through? Mason and Lissa were much better than you!"

I wondered briefly where this was going. First, Adrian was gay, then we learned he was previously straight and once again straight and now he was gay again.

"I wish you'd stop swinging between the sexes!" I screamed. "You're so confused _I_ can see stars! Just stay away from me!"

"See?" Mason demanded smugly. "She loves me, not you!"

"Oh get your head out of your ass," I snapped, suddenly recovered from my emotional rage and sorrow. "I know you slept with Adrian."

"I told you I wasn't imagining things!" Adrian declared. "I told you! You were willing! Willing!"

"I never!" Mason gasped. We were all getting really into this and from the gasps and muffled sniggers from our audience, some of them were as well. I knew none of us really had enough energy to go on. Except Lissa. I nudged the criminal mastermind to the forefront of the 'stage'.

"I have a confession," Lissa said in a steady voice, glancing between all three of us. "I hate pineapple."

I groaned. Pineapple? That was the best she could come up with? But Lissa had known I wouldn't let her go until she said something.

"You do?" Mason gasped. "Then why did you let me use pineapple lubricant the last time we made love?"

"Scandal!" I cried, pointing at the two.

"Indeed, my Rose," Adrian moved to my side. "Indeed."

I knew everybody had finished with this little skit and I turned to the rest of the people. I noticed Hayley and Nada doubled over in laughter and Christian was leaning against the wall, a wide grin plastered across his face. Dimitri looked shocked, but other than that it was hard to see any kind of emotion on his face.

"Thank you," I addressed the room at large. "That performance was brought to you by Lissa's Dares ltd. We hope you enjoyed."

It was only until after the hesitant clapping turned into robust applause that I noticed we had a larger crowd than the one we had started with. The fire-fighters stood outside the door, eight of them in all, laughing as hard as everyone else and applauding along with them. I was overcome by a wave of sheepishness as I watched them wolf whistle through the glass.

"That was good," I commented Adrian as the people in the room departed. I watched the lat fire-fighters walk away, wiping tears from his eyes as he went, probably to tell the guy in charge that it was a hilarious prank.

"For you," Adrian scowled, rubbing his cheek.

"I was serious, Adrian," I said quietly. "Never kiss me again."

"Only if you want it, love," he winked and sauntered over to our friends. I shook my head in exasperation and followed them all up the stairs.

When we were back in the apartment Lissa squealed in excitement. "It's Adrian's turn to pick a number!"

Adrian grinned and Nada went and fetched the hat, returning to the entryway fully composed. "Pick a number, Adrian."

"Number... three," Adrian said dramatically, letting the piece of paper flutter to the ground.

"Truth," Hayley declared bravely.

Adrian walked calmly to the lounge room, all of us following anxiously, especially Hayley.

"It can't be as bad as his dare," I assured her. She only nodded meekly in response. When we were all seated in the same places again Adrian turned on poor little Hayley.

"Have you ever..." he paused, then his eyes twinkled mischievously. "Never mind that... What is the strangest place you've ever had sex?"

Hayley froze, looking around for help. It only made everyone more curious. Mason plugged his ears beside me and I grabbed his hand, pulling it away from his head.

"What's wrong Mase?" I asked, smirking.

"I personally don't want to know the weirdest place my cousin has had sex. I mean, she's like my little sister," he returned his hands to his ears.

"Well at least there's one person who minds their own business," Hayley breathed, blushing as she looked around the circle.

"Well?" Adrian prompted, the only one in the circle that would even dare to ask such a question.

"Um... Do I really have to say?" she whispered, playing with her red hair.

"Yeah," I joined the two way conversation. "You picked truth," I shrugged and gave her an apologetic smile.

"Would you mind blocking your ears?" she asked timidly.

"Aw... you're so cute! But no, I wanna hear this," I grinned evilly. "Spit it out Hayley."

"Onmasonswashingmachinelastyear," she blurted.

"What now?"

"Mason! You said you weren't listening!"

"I wasn't," Mason gaped at his cousin. "On my... washing machine?"

I laughed. I couldn't help it. Poor Hayley didn't really understand what was meant by 'weird' places. Mason's face was priceless. It went from shocked, to horrified to disgusted then back to shocked.

"You wouldn't know if you didn't listen," Hayley shot at him. "And what you don't know can't hurt you."

Mason remained flabbergasted while everyone else in the circle laughed at his expression. Hayley reached for the hat, held in the air by a giggling Nada.

"Pick a number, any number," Nada managed, her giggle bringing out her Russian accent even more.

Hayley dug at the bottom of the hat, her blush slowly fading until she retrieved a slip of paper. Something in her eyes told me I didn't want that to be my number.

"Number two," Hayley declared, placing the slip of paper beside her.

"Oh no," Lissa whispered, casting her frightened jade eyes on Hayley.

"What'll it be?" Hayley demanded, looking angrily around at the circle of friends that hadn't helped her with her own fate.

"Um..." Lissa glanced around nervously. "Truth?"

I knew Lissa wouldn't take the dare. She was too afraid of being embarrassed in the same way Adrian was. Hayley settled down to think about the question she was going to ask Lissa. I thought about what dare I'd like to get while she thought. There was no way I was going to pick truth. It seemed almost... cowardly...

"Lissa," Hayley began, her expression deadpan. Lissa looked up at Hayley with big, terrified, endearing jade green eyes.

"Please," she whispered pathetically. I knew what Lissa was trying to pull.

"Hayley, don't fall for it!" I warned. It was too late. Hayley's expression softened into a small smile and she watched Lissa with the same adoration I'd seen on the faces Lissa had _really_ tried to convince of something.

"Alright Lissa, out of all the places in the world you'd like to go, what's your favourite?"

I groaned and dropped my head into my hands as Lissa beamed around the circle and started rattling off all her favourite places in the world, trying to come out with one that she'd like the most.

Hayley suddenly realised what she said and she quickly tried to revoke her words. "No, I didn't mean – I mean, I haven't finished yet!"

Mason shook his head sadly and placed a hand on his cousin's shoulder. "Don't try Hayley. You said it, you can't take it back."

"She really is good, isn't she?" Dimitri whispered, moving closer to me. He was so close I could feel his breath on the back of my neck and my skin prickled.

"Hmm," I replied abstractedly, trying to focus on Lissa's ramblings. Or at least trying to _look_ like I was focusing on Lissa's ramblings.

"Where did she learn to do that?" he breathed. Suddenly I was barraged with the delicious scent of his after shave and I sat there in silence for a moment.

"I... I'm not really sure," I wanted to turn around and see if he really was that close to me. "I think she just knew."

He chuckled. "Handy talent," he leaned away and I took a slightly unsteady breath, trying to catch the remnants of his smell.

"Definitely Africa," Lissa decided, slamming her fist into her palm. "That way I can help people!" her eyes shone with her missionary dream.

"Pick again Lissa," I prompted, still a little short of breath.

Lissa beamed and put her hand in the hat that Nada was still holding out.

"It's a number five," Lissa announced.

"Dare," Mason said immediately. Then he realised who had said his name. His smoky grey eyes widened in fear as Lissa eyed him speculatively.

"Okay, Mason you're humiliation will be as public as Adrian's but less, in a way," Lissa smiled. Mason sighed in relief, glad he didn't have to run downstairs and declare his love for Adrian. "But what you're going to do will be far more humiliating."

The colour seemed to drain from Mason's cheeks as he watched Lissa with apprehension. I wondered what my best friend was up to.

She smiled. "Ladies, come with me. I need to speak to you all privately."

Nada, Hayley and I rose from our seats on the floor and followed Lissa into the hallway, out of earshot. I looked back and saw all the uncomfortable looks on the guys faces.

"What's up Lissa?" I asked quickly, determined to get back into the lounge room.

"I'm warning you all right now, you may not want to see Mason's dare," Lissa warned easily.

"Oh God," the blood drained from Hayley's face. "What are you going to make him do?"

Lissa only winked. "I'm just saying, you probably don't want to watch this and if you decide you don't want to then just come back into the hallway and listen to us laugh."

We walked back out into the lounge room, all of us glancing at each other and giggling. Whatever was going to happen was going to be _extremely_ bad for Mason.

"Mason Ashford," Lissa stayed standing as everybody else sat. "I dare you to strip."

"You want to see me naked?" Mason asked bluntly. Christian was looking with startled eyes from Lissa to Mason and back again.

Lissa laughed. "No. But I'd say the greater world would find some humor in a naked guy doing the chicken dance on the balcony of a six story building."

There was a moment of brief silence that was broken by the bell like sound of Nada laughing. The rest of us joined in after a moment, Christian relaxing a little into the couch he was leaning on. Mason looked - rightfully - terrified.

"Who's going to see you all the way up here?" Adrian asked dryly.

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**Two minutes later.**

**Strangers P.O.V**

"Hey, Sammy," I grabbed my best friends arm and pulled over on the side of the road.

"What?" Sammy snapped, pulling his head phones from his ears.

"Get out of the car and look up," I said, laughter suddenly bubbling to the surface. Both Sammy and I got slowly out of the car and stared up at the tall apartment block. On a sixth story balcony, there was what looked suspiciously like a naked man… doing the chicken dance.

"Damien?" Sammy leaned over to me, grinning mercilessly.

"Yeah?"

"Do you think he's singing too?"

"Probably," I squinted through the evening sunlight. "Have you got your camera?"

Sammy trained his lens on the naked stranger. "Right here."

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**Rose P.O.V**

It was hysterical and embarrassing at the same time. I could imagine what poor Mason was feeling but it was just so funny to watch. We were still laughing when Mason ran inside, covering himself with a towel.

"Happy?" he spat at Lissa as he stormed by, heading for the bathroom, and consequently, his clothes.

"It was very entertaining Mason," Christian called out after the angry chicken dancer.

A door slammed and we all fell into hysterics again.

"Oh I wish we'd filmed that," Adrian gasped.

Mason re-emerged, fully clothed and seething. Nada held out the hat silently, grinning from ear to ear. "It was funny," she admitted. Mason glared at her then opened the paper.

"Who's number eight?"

"That would be me," Christian said lazily, twirling a piece of his black hair around his finger.

Mason pondered for a moment then an evil smile made an appearance. "Christian, I dare you to -"

"I refuse," Christian said quickly.

"You can't," Nada informed him in a confused tone.

"Yes I can," Christian replied smugly. "Because now that I know he's so eager for me to pick dare, I pick truth. I didn't choose before."

Mason groaned as the truth of his words sank in. "Alright fine," I knew Mason was infinitely bad at asking truth questions. "Um…" he floundered, then looked at Lissa and seemed to be struck by divine inspiration. "Have you and Lissa had sex?"

Was that the only thing he could think of? Sex? And why did he make it so bland. No one in the circle even cracked a smile when Christian replied, quite blandly.

"Yes."

"What?" I half yelled. I exchanged glances with Hayley, confirming that neither of us knew about this revelation. "When?"

"Only one question," Christian said smugly, leaning back against the couch. "And you aren't even the person that's supposed to ask it."

Lissa buried her face in her hands. It seemed one use had come from Mason's ridiculously un-embarrassing question. Hayley and I exchanged another glance. Lissa was in for it later.

Christian grabbed a piece of paper before anyone else could make any sort of sarcastic remark.

"It's seven," he said dryly.

"That would be me," I said calmly. I didn't know Christian very well and I had to wonder if he would even come out with something embarrassing. "Dare."

A phone beeped in the silence. "Oops," Hayley whipped out the little pink box and stared intently at the screen. "Mason, we have to go," she stood and tugged on her cousin's arm.

"What?" Mason asked, bewildered and disappointed. "Why?"

"Because my dad is coming to visit us," she replied, typing fervently into her phone. "He wants to say hi to you so you're not staying."

Mason groaned but stood next to the small girl who was already running to the door. "Bye! Tell me about the dare tomorrow."

She and Mason disappeared out the door, slamming it behind them.

"Sing 'I'm a Little Tea Pot' with actions included," Christian demanded smugly.

"No way,' I replied flatly. "That's not even a good dare."

"I can give you another dare, if you really want," he offered, I nodded, acting as though I didn't care either way. "Yodel," he replied flatly.

"What?"

"Yodel," he gestured to the sky. "It's one word, fairly simple to understand. Yodel. If you want, you can pick a number out of the hat and have a partner," he gestured to the hat Nada was holding and checked his wrist watch.

I lunged for it before either Nada or Dimitri could move to stop me. "Aha!" I cried, dragging the slip of paper from the hat as Nada fell backwards. "Five," I announced proudly.

"That's me," Nada said bravely. "And we're not yodelling," she glared around the room until everyone agreed. "We'll do the teapot thing. What are the words?"

I turned to stare disbelievingly at Nada. "You're serious?"

"No, I'm Russian," she replied, her brown eyes – that were a shade darker than Dimitri's – shot unhappy glances around the room. "I don't know the words to silly little nursery rhymes."

"I'm a little teapot, short and stout, here is my handle here is my spout," I slowly said the first line for her. "**When I get all steamed up,**t**hen I shout,**j**ust tip me over and pour me out."**

**"I got it," Nada nodded bravely and we went to stand at the front of the room. I grinned at everyone on the floor.**

Dimitri said something in fluid Russian and Nada turned to him haughtily. "Well you can't seem to move anywhere without my help," she retorted in English. "I'm only being nice."

"Then stop," Dimitri grinned. Nada glared. I nudged my singing partner in the side and began singing, trying to keep Nada in tune. She stumbled over a few words and her frustration grew until her accent was so strong that she reverted to swearing in Russian. I was laughing along with the rest of them as Nada continued her tirade before returning to the proper lyrics.

"Short and stout," we sung together, nada once again inserting an inappropriate Russian word into the song. She watched me closely, as though she predict the next words if she stared hard enough.

"Here is my handle, here is my spout," I was slowly trying to guide Nada's hands in the proper movements but she was a bit behind Mother Goose's timing. "When I get all steamed up then I shout!" Nada jumped at the sudden exclamation and stared at me in bewilderment.

"Just tip me over and pour me out," I finished the last gesture but I knew this song off by heart from my earliest days. It was sung twice, sometimes three times. We went through it all again, the room filled with laughter as Nada attempted to keep up and predict the words. She substituted in Russian after a while and her voice improved significantly, soaring through the air and making me falter. I eventually stopped all together and turned to stare at Nada in disbelief. She could sing. Really sing. She followed the same tune so I assumed she was just singing the Russian words. Dimitri sung quietly in the background too, only mouthing the words that his sister's voice carried.

Nada finished the last words and we all stared in shock at the young Russian.

"Dare's over," she said shortly, sitting down where she stood.

"Okay," I murmured, walking back over to my place on the carpeted floor.

"Wow Nada," Lissa's eyes shone with admiration. "Your voice is amazing!"

Christian checked his watch again and I stared at him, puzzled.

"Thank you," Nada appeared to be in a significantly better mood as she put her hand into the hat, and without even looking at the paper let it flutter to the ground. "One. Left."

Dimitri smiled calmly beside me. "Dare," he answered simply.

"She looks evil right now, why are you saying dare?" I whispered.

"Because Nada is infamous for her bad dares," he whispered back, his eyes still locked with his sisters.

"Kind of like Mason and truth questions then?" I asked.

He chuckled. "Worse."

Nada was the first to break eye contact. She looked directly at me. "Rose, I'm involving you in this dare only because Dimitri thinks I meddle. I'm proving to him the meaning of those words. And it's kind of a favour too," her eyes twinkled with amusement. "He's never going to get around to this on his own."

She spoke to Dimitri in Russian, her expression and tone saying that she was probably tormenting him. Dimitri retorted quickly and glanced around the circle, almost nervous. We watched the siblings shoot foreign words at each other for about three minutes before Adrian interjected.

"Okay, do you mind saying all of this in English? Because we don't know what you're saying."

Christian glanced at his wrist watch again.

"Alright, what the hell is wrong with you?" I asked. "that's the third time in as many minutes that you've checked the time."

"I have to leave," Christian said to Lissa, not even addressing the rest of us.

"Why?" Lissa asked, looking shocked and sad. Seriously was she already that attached to this guy?

Christian shrugged. "I have some things I have to arrange," he smiled at her and she smiled back.

"Okay," both Lissa and Christian stood, and I was somewhat thankful after the display of mushiness that Lissa was going to walk him down.

"We have to go as well, Nada," Dimitri said pointedly, glaring at his sister. Nada's jaw dropped and she stared in disbelief at her brother as Lissa and Christian closed the door.

"No we don't!" she complained. "It's not six yet!"

"You have twelve seconds," Dimitri replied staring at the clock intently. "And we can drag this out as long as you want."

"Dimka!" Nada said in a whining tone. "You're mean!"

"I'm awful," he smiled at his sister and stood.

"Well, seems like I'm the only one staying," Adrian smirked, relocating himself to the couch. "Me and Rosie, the only two left. How nice."

"I think I'll come with you," I said to Dimitri, getting to my feet. He gave me a puzzled look.

"Why do you want to get out of here?" he whispered as we moved to the door.

"Adrian is _not_ my boyfriend but he doesn't seem know that," I whispered in return as we opened the door. Nada walked behind the both of us, sulking and trying the glare holes into her brother's back.

"Ah."

"We've had a few arguments on the subject, but no matter how many times I win he still keeps trying," I smiled as we closed the door. The elevator was still out of use because of the fire scare so we took the stairs to the first floor. The blonde receptionist sat and smiled awkwardly at as, obviously aware we were all part of the earlier prank.

"Have a good night?" she called after us as we walked out the door. Christian and Lissa were nowhere in sight. She didn't go home with him, did she? It seemed unlikely but... I had planned on drilling Lissa for information tonight, she might have run. If she had, I would be without food for the whole night... and Iolanthi would want to sleep on _my_ bed!

As I mentally panicked Nada sulked off to get their car, refusing Dimitri's offer to retrieve it angrily.

"Where'd you park it?" I asked, half amused through my stress.

"Not very far, just around the corner," he pointed past Nada. She had shoved her hands in her pockets moodily and stormed past the very few people walking home, happily chatting to people on their phones.

"So what was your dare?"

Dimitri shifted, glancing at me. "Nada was meddling."

I rolled my eyes. "That isn't a very good answer Comrade."

He looked at me, surprised. "Comrade?" he questioned.

I shrugged. "Just jumped to mind. What was the dare?"

"She..." he hesitated, looking at me again. "It doesn't matter, does it?"

I watched him carefully. "Yeah."

He sighed and looked at the sky, staring at the half moon that was barely visible in the still-light sky.

"Well," I prompted as Nada slowly brought their car around the corner.

He looked at me, suddenly amusement showing in his eyes. "She'll be angry with me for a long time if I don't finish my dare," he said unexpectedly.

"Hmm," I replied, my eyes narrowing suspiciously. Dimitri turned to face me completely, staring at me with happy brown eyes.

"Nada can make life hell when she's angry," He shifted a little closer to me and I knew suddenly what Nada's dare was. My heart jumped into my throat when he moved even closer and took my face in his hands. I was distantly aware of Nada pulling up on the curb.

"Yeah," I breathed, my eyes locked on his lips. "I might as well help you out."

Dimitri moved the last few centimetres and our lips met. Well, if Nada was watching might as well make it good. I pressed myself as close to him as I could and his hands moved from my face, down my sides and wrapped around my waist, locking me in his arms. My instinct to get even closer was pretty hard to ignore as his lips moved in sync with mine but this kiss was sweet, nice. I wasn't even sure if I wanted to turn it into something more voracious. Just yet. Later. I let myself forget where we were and who may be watching and basked in the moment, his arms around me, his lips on mine...

"Wow," Adrian's dry voice snapped my out of my 'moment'. Dimitri stopped kissing me and looked at Adrian, who was standing at the door and glaring. He didn't let go of me though. I glared right back at Adrian. He'd interrupted the moment dammit!

"Piss off Adrian," I scowled.

"Sorry," he put his hands in the air, still glaring at Dimitri, then turned and stalked away.

"What the hell?" I asked, staring after him. Adrian rarely did what he was told.

"Your dare is done!" Nada cried happily from the front seat of the car. She winked at me. "I told you I was doing you a favour."

"It's not done yet," I scoffed. I turned back to Dimitri and smiled. "I helped you out," I mentioned. "Are you going to thank me?"

He leaned down to kiss me again, and this time I did take advantage of it. I stood on my toes in an attempt to get closer and kissed him playfully, clenching fistfuls of his shirt in my hands and pulling _him_ to me. Dimitri didn't put up any resistance, willingly following my lead in this kiss. When we broke apart I grinned happily at him.

"Thank you," he whispered, smirking. He looked so yummy. I kissed him again, but this time we were interrupted.

"Ahem," Nada broke us up with her fake cough, staring pointedly at us. "If you don't mind, we have to go home Dimitri."

"I know," he sounded a little sad.

"Did you have fun?" I asked Nada sarcastically, knowing she was the criminal mastermind in this Truth or Dare plot.

"A lot," she beamed. "We have to do it again one day."

I sighed. "The bad thing about that? Lissa and Hayley will back you up."

"Yeah, they probably will," she grinned again. "Now do you mind letting go of my brother so we can leave?"

"Oh," I released Dimitri's shirt and stepped away from him reluctantly. "Bye."

He smiled at me again. "Goodbye."

He walked around to the passenger side of the car and got in before Nada peeled away from the curb and got lost in the peak hour traffic.

I grinned ecstatically and ran back up the stairs, taking them two at a time.

"Lissa, I'm home," I sung as I burst through the door.

"Hey," Lissa grimaced, looking miserable. "You're going to ask, aren't you?"

"Ask what?" I quizzed, sitting on the bench and watching her prepare food. It looked like Lissa couldn't be bothered to cook today so she had just taken out some left over chicken and prepared a salad. "We've got to have McDonalds one of these days," I observed.

"It's bad for you. Go ahead, ask," she stopped moving and shut her eyes.

"What?" I asked again.

"When did Christian and I..." she took a deep breath.

"Oh..." I paused, thinking. "Well, we'll talk about it tomorrow."

"What?" she opened her eyes and jerked back, looking at me with startled jade eyes.

"I'm in a good mood," I shrugged. "And I'm really hungry."

"Why are you in a good mood?" she asked suspiciously.

"No reason," I grinned. "Just had a really good night."

**Don't like the end but there you go. The first kiss. I've never actually written a kiss scene before 'cause my original main character is... well, to put it lightly, a bastard. Everybody hates him so the chances of him having a love interest are about zero.**

**Sorry if this sucked, I edited for sooooo long but I'm still not sure...**

**Review anyway!**


	21. Swiss Cheese V

**Yeah, I'm ending on a Swiss Cheese. If I get **_**lots**_** of reviews I **_**promise**_** the next chapter will be up in two days. Or more likely, less. But I want reviews!**

**Chapter 21 – Swiss Cheese V**

"_Rose I really don't think you should be drinking so much," Lissa frowned disapprovingly._

"_Liss," I complained, leaning back against my chair. "I'm not. Here, you have one."_

"_No, Rose, really, I don't –" Lissa stared at the small glass I pushed in front of her. "That's it?"_

_I laughed at her surprised expression. "Yes, Liss, that tiny little glass is all. Go ahead, drink it," I urged. Lissa regarded the drink silently for a moment before she shrugged and picked up the glass, swallowing all the vodka at once. She froze._

"_What's this?" she asked, screwing her eyes shut._

_I laughed again at her expression. "Vodka, Liss, it's vodka."_

"_Why are you drinking this?" she asked me incredulously. "It tastes awful!"_

"_No," I giggled. "You just think it tastes awful. Was drinking it that hard?" I teased._

"_No," Lissa asserted boldly. "I could drink it again."_

_Wordlessly I signalled the bartender for more vodka…_

Oh yeah, to all you people that have added me to favorites or put The Vodka Night on your story alert list but haven't reviewed. The way I figure it, you know officially owe me twenty one reviews. However, one review will be satisfactory.

**REVIEW.**


	22. Snow

**I got so many reviews! I'm super happy! Unfortunately, this chapter is later than promised There is a very good reaosn for that. My father stole my laptop. Well, technically it's till his laptop but he had to go on a 'business' trip and he wanted to watch movies on the laptop so he nicked it. I couldn't write for three days.**

**I got to admit, this first part is dedicated to all those people who have a small annoying fluff ball with terrible habits.**

**Chapter 22 – Snow**

The dream was sweet. Sweet, used in the loosest possible term. It was closer to perfect. Dimitri was with me, we were just lying there, talking. Suddenly, Dimitri leaned in, brushing his lips against my cheek, making my heart thunder. He moved closer, running his tongue down my jaw line. I gasped. Then I woke up.

"Iolanthi!" I groaned, brushing the kitten away from my face. "Go away!" I rolled over, looking through the darkness at my digital clock. It was two am. It was the oblivion of the day.

I felt something cold nudge my shoulder and I yelped, rolling over, away from Iolanthi.

"Crazy cat!" I hissed. She mewed and buried her face against my shoulder again. "You're cold," I informed the orangey mass of fur. "Cold!"

Another meow responded to my scolding. And then she worked her way under the blankets, curling up against the small of my back.

"Iolanthi!" I rolled on top of the kitten, trying to keep most of weight off her but at the same time pressing down enough to give her the message: Get out.

She started purring, sending cold air onto my stomach. I yelped again and rolled off, now on the other side of my bed.

"Scraggly rat!" I hissed. I couldn't see her, but I could feel her crawling towards me. "Don't you dare. Go snuggle with Lissa."

Iolanthi ignored my protests and curled up against my side again, purring loudly. _Great, now I've got a lawn mower in my bed_. She clawed my side once and that was it.

"Iolanthi!" I whisper-yelled. I shoved my hand under the blankets and found the fluff ball, dragging it out of my warm bed. I put my feet on the floor and started towards Lissa's room, ready to drop the bomb on Lissa's bedroom floor. I only got halfway across the hallway before I realised it was freezing. Really freezing. I darted back to my bedroom, Iolanthi in my arms.

"Sorry kitten," I whispered "I didn't know it was so cold." I put her back under the blankets and moved as far away from her as possible.

Another meow soared through the darkness. My eyes snapped open as Iolanthi once again curled into the small of my back under the covers. I sighed and closed my eyes again, not bothered to move.

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When I next woke up, my alarm was beeping, once again, at six am. I slammed my fist down on the snooze button and rolled over. An alarmed meow told me I had rolled onto Iolanthi and I rolled back over.

"What's up kitty cat?" I asked, pulling her up from underneath the blankets. The purring abomination looked sleepily at me. "I know, it's a terrible time to wake up. Blame Lissa."

I rolled out of my bed, not feeling nearly as drowsy as I usually did at this time of the morning. Maybe it was the unusual chill in the air... Lissa would be waking up now. I stretched and glanced out my window, purely out of habit. I was looking at a sea of white. It was snowing. The first snow of the year was always exciting. I squealed and got dressed as fast as I could, ready to launch myself onto Lissa's bed and giggle hysterically at the white puffs of snow.

I darted out my door and skidded to a halt half through the hallway. I ran back to my room and snatched Iolanthi up from the bed, sliding back into the hallway and running across the narrow corridor.

"Lissa!" I sung, slamming open the door. Lissa was sitting on her bed, staring at the wall blankly. I'd forgotten she didn't have a window. "Come look at this!" I squealed, turning on my heel and running back out the door.

Lissa followed me back into my room, bleary eyed but seemingly alert otherwise. We arrived in my room and I pointed out the window enthusiastically. "Snow!" I screamed, jumping up and down on my bed. Lissa yelped appropriately and ran to the end of her bed, shivering in her nightgown.

"It's so cold," she whimpered suddenly.

"Oh, go get changed you baby," I grinned. "I'm going outside!"

"To play in the snow?" she asked doubtfully. "How old are you? Three?"

"Age is irrelevant," I sniffed haughtily. "Snow is awesome!"

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When we finally got outside it was eight o'clock. Naturally, I was a bit pissy about the two hours we lost on breakfast but as soon as I was in the snow I forgot about it.

"Let's go to the park!" I exclaimed happily.

Lissa grinned. "I'll go get Adrian!"

"Does he have to be involved in everything," I whined, latching onto her arm. "Let's have some best friend time," I grinned. "You and me, no boys, no new friends. Just like it was."

Lissa frowned. Then brightened. "Alright," she agreed enthusiastically.

I barely prevented myself from clapping my hands in a very Lissa-like action. "Let's go!"

We ran off, through the snow, running across the roads, giggling. Very few people were about, only the odd family or two, playing on the street outside their homes. The parents looked dead on their feet, the children looked gleeful and twice there was a sulky teenager. We waved as we passed each family.

"There Liss!" I pointed to the large expanse of snow, trees and swings. Lissa giggled at my enthusiasm but I ignored her, far to excited. Snow sucked after about four days so I'd always tried to enjoy it for the first day, when I was in love with it. I ran across the road, heedless of any cars, dragging Lissa after me. When we reached the other side I ran forward into the snow, scooping some up in my hands and throwing it in the air, squealing and giggling in a way I normally tried to avoid.

Lissa joined me after a seconds, scooping up the snow and throwing it in the air. It was fun. I didn't even care about how childish we looked. I threw off my jacket and peeled off the gloves I'd thankfully packed when we'd ran from Montana. In only track pants and a red turtle neck I ran around in the snow, spreading out my arms as though I were a plane or something. Lissa laughed at me. Cars were slowing down and people were gaping at me, running in the snow in normal, thin clothes.

Lissa and I enjoyed the snow for another hour or so, making snow angels in the deep frozen water and giggling hysterically at how wet we were by the end of it. At the end of the hour children and families by the dozen flocked into the park, laughing merrily at the first snow fall of the season. When the children arrived Lissa joined into a random family and started talking with them. Damn her and her 'get along with everyone' philosophy. She ended up dragging me into the conversation as well, introducing me to the parents and their two sons, Jason at five and Conner at eight. They waved shyly at me and I stared uncomfortably back at them.

Lissa glided through the conversation with the adults. I moved off to the side, talking with Conner.

"Hi," I greeted, wondering how I was supposed to talk to an eight year old. He looked breifly at me with dark eyes.

"Hello," he intoned.

"Hewwo," Jason giggled, grinning brightly at me.

I grinned back at him. The little sucker was cute. "You wanna go make snow angels?" I asked them, caught up in the general mood of joviality in the park.

"Can we roll down the hills?" Conner asked, pointing at the gentle slope at the other end of the park. I shrugged.

"Sure, kiddo," I stood, picking up my jacket. "Let's go play in the snow!" I enthused my voice with as much excitement as I could. I was playing with children. This was a first.

I soon discovered, after rolling down the same hill so many times it got beyond the point of boring that playing with kids was fun. I rolled through the snow, laughing and feeling my cheeks and fingers go numb and sting. Jason laughed hysterically beside me until he couldn't breathe any more and Conner simply rolled, looking a bit catatonic. I gave up being worried about brain damage. He was probably just a somber kid. We finished with snow angels, drenching ourselves in melting white powder before their parents called them back. Lissa joined me on the joined me on the hillside, waving goodbye to the small family of four.

"How was that?" Lissa asked me, smiling.

"Fun," I panted, shivering inside my jacket.

"Do you want to go home yet?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

"No! What's the time?" It was one of our rare switching of rolls. Lissa became the parent for once.

"It's almost eleven," she jumped. "I have to go to work!"

"When?" I pouted.

"What day is it?" she asked, looking hassled.

"Monday," I made a face, realising I hadn't seen Dimitri in seven days.

"Oh," she relaxed. Then panicked again. "I was supposed to go yesterday!" she wailed.

"There's nothing you can do about it now," I shrugged, grinning. "Besides, you were working almost all of last week. Except for Monday..."

"Hello!" an irritating voice sang. Both Lissa and I scanned the snowy ground for Adrian's dark mark. The purity of the day was stained. I groaned when I saw Adrian, sauntering towards us and waving, ushering children out of the way.

"Brilliant," I muttered sarcastically.

"It is!" Lissa gushed. "We had our best friend time, now it's time for friends."

I groaned and planted my face in my hands. "You're sickeningly cheery, you do know that?" I muttered.

"I brought lunch!" Adrian announced when he was close enough. My head snapped up.

"You'll be forgiven if you say that's…"

"Ham sandwiches?" he hazarded a guess. I groaned.

"You're only half forgiven then," I snatched the bag he was offering me and opened it up, my appetite getting the better of me.

"Aren't you guys cold?" he asked, taking off his jacket and placing it on the ground where he took his seat.

"Yeah," I mumbled as I took a bite of the sandwich. "But it's snow. It's supposed to be cold."

"If you say so," he muttered dubiously. I gave him my famed 'well-duh' look and chewed busily. Lissa daintily took a sandwich and began taking small bites. I knew it would take her an hour to finish the stupid pieces of bread so I wolfed down mine and jumped to my feet.

"You want to play in the snow, Adrian?" I asked childishly.

He smirked. "Yeah, sure. Let's _play_ in the snow Rose."

"Stay here," I commanded sternly, running across the snowy field. The sunshine filtered through the intermittent snow fall as I spun in endless circles at dizzying speeds. It was something that I'd missed from those childish days when you just didn't care.

I stopped spinning, trying to regain my equilibrium but I ended up staggering to the side, right into someone's arms.

"Oops," I muttered, grinning cheesily up at the man who had caught me.

"Hi Rose," Mason gave me his trademark grin. "What are you up to?"

"Playing in the snow. What are you doing here?" I peered around him. "Where's Hayley?"

He shrugged. "She's staying with her father and then she's going down to the library to do some study for some exam she's got."

"What's course is she taking anyway?" I asked, realizing that I didn't even know Hayley's interests.

Mason shrugged again. "I have absolutely no idea," he grinned then shook his head again. "Sad, huh?"

"Just a bit," I admitted, grinning with him.

"Ahem," Adrian coughed 'lightly' behind us. I turned my head, staring at him, standing in the snow like some kind of dark haired angel of destruction. I registered his glare then turned back to Mason, the subject of his apparent rage. It was only then that I realised Mason's arms were still wrapped around my shoulders.

"Hello," Mason said coldly, letting me slowly pry myself away from him.

"Hi," Adrian said, his eyes cooling as soon as I was out of Mason's arms.

"You two are such children," I muttered.

"Who's the child?" Adrian smirked. "Us or the girl who was making snow angels?"

"She was having fun," Mason defended, glaring at his 'rival'. I knew, if Adrian wasn't here, Mason would have been teasing me for that little stunt as well. I rolled my eyes and edged out from between the two testosterone driven males while Adrian made a snappy retort.

I don't think they even noticed my escape in all their hatred of each other. I ran back to Lissa and seated myself on the snow beside her, not even caring that my butt was getting wet.

"So," I began, patting a fast rhythm on my knees.

"So," she mimicked, watching the boys argue. "What are they fighting about?"

I rolled my eyes. "Me."

Lissa took another bite of her sandwich. "Again? Who are you interested in?"

"Neither of them," I replied easily, looking over at them in their ridiculous standoff.

"Dimitri," Lissa nodded sagely.

"No, Christian," I replied sarcastically.

"What?!" she studied me. "Oh," she chuckled, catching the tone of my voice.

I rolled my eyes. "These two haven't figured out that they can't win my affections by running my life. I'm just so pissed off with both of them."

"They aren't that bad," Lissa defended. "They just both really like you. Take it as a compliment."

"I will, as long as I can insult them while I'm being flattered," I said coldly. Mason seemed to realise I was missing and he walked right past Adrian in a huff, stalking over to me and sitting next to me.

Adrian turned as well, a relaxed smile on his face and sauntered back to where we all sat.

"Mason!" a familiar voice called my ex-best guy friends name. All I got was a flash of red as Hayley shot over to us with blinding speed and hopped on one foot in front of us.

"Hi… Hayley," I said uncertainly. The redhead was wearing crimson, she kind of looked like Mrs Clause, big red coat, red pants and – shockingly – red boots.

"Hey!" she said happily, glowing with some kind of emotion.

"What happened?" Mason asked, resigned.

"Well, I was on my way over here and there was this guy selling Santa outfits and I bought this one! Isn't it great? I was thinking about buying the hat too but then I figured it was a little too Christmassy and I just got the suit. I bought this belt as well, see," she flaunted the big red belt as she rambled on. "It was half price and everything! There's also this guy in the shop next to him selling fish and chips and I really wanted to get some but – Rose? Where are you going?"

I was already ploughing through the snow, searching frantically for the fish and chips guy. Damn I was hungry. Adrian's sandwich hadn't done much for me. Hayley was beside me in another flash of red.

"Where are you going?" she quizzed excitedly. "Are you going to get a Santa suit too? It would work for you," she said the last sentence admiringly.

"Food," I muttered distractedly.

"Oh. This way," she sung. I noticed the rest of our small group stringing after us uncertainly.

"Do you think Rose is going to buy a Santa suit?" I heard Adrian whisper to Lissa. "That would be sexy."

I almost turned around and smacked him but Lissa came to my rescue. I think. She whispered something to him and it shut him up so all was good with me.

We reached the food store and I dove in, dragging everyone along with me. I think everyone ended up getting something, except for Lissa who was still quietly munching on her sandwich. I was too focused on the cup of chips I'd just been handed.

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"Do we have to?" I whined, getting into the elevator. Lissa had forgotten to lock up this morning, apparently. It was only six in the afternoon and I hadn't had enough of the snow. I was desperately begging for permission to stay. Lissa's compromise was we all went back to the apartment, she went in, freshened up and locked the door.

I thought it was unnecessary and suspiciously aware that she _had_ locked the door. I wondered what she was trying to con me into.

When we reached the sixth floor, Lissa took two steps out of the elevator and froze.

"Hey," a calm voice said, as surprised as Lissa looked. I peered around my best friend to see Jesse Zeklos, sitting on the floor outside my apartment. Almost all was forgiven since the last time I'd seen Jesse so I was being a lot nicer than I would have been five days ago. I also noticed a dark haired, blue eyed figure leaning casually against the door.

"Hey Jesse," I said in surprise. "You do know that you look a bit like a stalker, just sitting there?"

He grinned at me. "Yeah, it did cross my mind. You forgot your hat."

"What?" Jesse lifted a pinstriped hat from the ground beside him and I clapped my hands in delight. "I didn't realise I left it in the restaurant!"

"The clinic, actually," he corrected.

I shrugged. "That would be why I don't remember. I was pretty delusional."

He threw me the hat which I planted firmly on my head whether it matched my outfit or not.

"Hey Christian," I said almost indifferently.

"Hey," I distantly heard him reply. Well, at least I knew what Lissa wanted to come up here for.

"So..." Jesse looked me up and down, some items of clothing – such as my jacket – still dripping with melted snow. "What have you been doing?"

"Snow," I said. It was self explanatory.

"How long have you lived here?" he asked, amused.

"Um, only about a month," I shrugged. "We came from Montana."

"Doesn't it snow in Montana?"

"Yeah," I shrugged. "But Montana snow sucks. I'm always excited the first day it snows."

Jesse laughed lightly at my admission and moved forward, placing his hand on my arm. "Well, how about we go enjoy the snow?"

From somewhere inside the apartment, the phone started ringing, cutting off my reply. I leaned around Jesse and fished in my coat pocket for my key. I sidestepped Jesse and walked through the front door, snatching the phone off the cradle before the third ring.

"Hello?"

"Hello Rosie," Adrian sang.

"What are you calling for?" I asked, a sudden wave of resignation washing over me. "You could just come up here instead of wasting credit."

"Well, I thought I should tell you that there's someone here to see you," his tone became sour as he finished the sentence.

"Who?" I asked, brightening at the possibility of someone that would piss off Adrian.

"Your _boyfriend_," he spat.

"My boyfriend?"

"Your boyfriend?" three voices chorused outside.

"You mean Dimitri is here?" I asked excitedly.

"Yeah, him and his little trouble maker sister," the humor in Adrian's voice was evident. "And you won't believe want she wants top do this time. You'd better get down here. Fast."

I hung up the phone and returned to the hall, eager to see Dimitri after almost a week. I saw Jesse, standing there with a speculative look and my eagerness faded a bit. What about Jesse? Did I like him enough to stay neutral for a while?

"Dimitri and Nada have come around too?" Lissa asked, her fingers interlaced with Christians.

"Yeah. Apparently Nada wants to play another game," I shrugged, wondering if her game would end in a bonus the way it had last time. Once again I glanced at Jesse.

"Let's go down and see what she wants then," Christian sighed in defeat. "We might as well get the torture over with."

I laughed and followed Lissa and Christian to the elevator. I was shocked when I felt a warm hand slip into mine and I glanced up, startled, into Jesse's eyes. He shrugged at my questioning look and pulled me into the newly arrived elevator beside Christian and Lissa. Lissa eyed our interlocked hands and gave me a puzzled, doubtful glance.

As the elevator started down, I began to feel uncomfortable. Jesse's grip on me seemed possessive somehow, as though he'd taken offense at Adrian's reference of 'boyfriend'. I didn't like it and I eased away from him, lifting my hands to fix the positioning of my hat. When I dropped my hands again he didn't try to reach for me and I exhaled in a silent relief. Something about that wasn't right.

When we reached the lobby and walked out onto the rapidly darkening streets, there was 'the gang', loitering on the sidewalk and staring at us. Adrian didn't seem shocked at the additions to our party. Nada looked devastated.

"This can't be right!" she exclaimed, her accent thickening. "What are you doing here?" she pointed an accusing finger at Jesse. Dimitri moved forward with his sister, his long duster moving dramatically with him. I moved further away from Jesse and Nada and stood a little to the side, not far enough that Jesse would notice my absence but far enough that Dimitri knew he was welcome to come stand with me. He did, and we watched the ensuing scene in silence.

"What… do you mean?" Jesse took a step back, bewildered by the angry Russian girl glaring at him.

"Well I knew Christian would be here but you ruin everything. Now the teams aren't even!"

"Nada," Adrian stepped forward, smiling at Jesse coldly. "It's okay. We can play with one extra person."

"Are you insane?" Nada demanded, turning on Adrian. "_Play_? We can _play_ with one extra person? This is war Adrian!"

"Right," Adrian straightened and saluted. "Ma'am, we can fight with one extra private, ma'am!"

Nada smiled at his antics and seemed to cool down a little. "But we'll now have to divide the teams according to talent."

I knew what was coming. It was pretty obvious. I'd been waiting for an opportunity to do this all day, but there were children about. It was now officially evening. The children were gone. The very few lovebirds wondering around the park were bound to be scared off.

"Alright," Nada turned to us all and clapped her hands in a business like manner. "I suppose everybody knows what we're doing tonight? Well, if you don't, tonight –"

"We're having a snow ball fight," Dimitri replied, deadpan.

Nada stared at him for a moment, then bent down and scooped some slush together from the side walk. She launched the dirty muck through the air in Dimitri's general direction and we both dove out of the way.

"Now that my brother has ruined the surprise," there was much eye rolling amongst our friends. "WE are going to the park. It's almost completely clear of people. We can safely throw some snow."

Nada didn't wait for any reactions, she just turned and marched away. With a few significant glances and shrugs we all followed. Jesse was suddenly beside me again, grabbing my hand possessively. I tried to shrug him off but he just clung tighter, glaring at every single guy in our company, including Christian.

Dimitri was trying to catch up to his lunatic sister but everyone else seemed to be aware of that fact that Jesse and I were now holding hands.

"Jesse," I whispered, leaning over to him.

"Yes?" he whispered back, tight lipped.

"Could you let go of my hand? I kind of need it."

"For what?" he retorted.

"I want to put it in my pocket," I growled, angry that he would use that kind of tone with me.

"I don't like any of these guys," he growled back, glaring at me.

"Well too bad, they're my friends," I snapped, ripping my hand away from his and walking a little faster so I wouldn't have to walk beside him any longer. I fumed as I went, determined to show this little man exactly who was in charge of my life. All of the reasons I'd been pissed off and Jesse last Sunday came rushing back and I muttered swear words under my breath.

I caught up to Dimitri and Nada who were speaking in Russian quietly. It looked as though they were arguing some points. I didn't know why Dimitri was trying. Nada seemed like the kind of person who got her way.

Finally, Dimitri stepped back, sighing. "She'll never give in."

"Doesn't that girl have a weakness?" I joked.

Dimitri laughed. "Lots," he replied, looking at me with mirth. "She's terrified of the dark, and spiders. She hates the very thought of violence, unless it's her trying to bully me into something and she loves animals to the point of being flawed," he looked at his sister in bemusement. "And yet, she's so stubborn."

"It seems to work that way," I inclined my head towards Lissa.

He chuckled and fell silent. We walked comfortably through the snow, silence suiting the both of us just fine. It was weird that way. I normally had the irrepressible urge to say something, to stand out and be funny. To make myself belong instead of just waiting for it to happen. I wasn't the kind of person that waited. Yet, Dimitri made me wait. More than that, he made me happy to wait. Or maybe I already belonged and so I didn't need to try. Either way, it was relaxing to be around him.

We reached the park with no accidents and no meetings with children. The sun was barely visible when Nada halted in the middle of the park and turned to face us like some evil dictator.

"Right," she began, putting her hands behind her back. "The rules are simple. We will be divided into teams. Remember your teammates. Each team will be given one half of the park."

Adrian raised his hands and gave everyone an innocent smile. "The _whole_ park?" he asked, looking around the tree dotted area.

"Yes, the whole park," Nada grinned. "If and when you are hit by the member of the opposite team, you go to their jail, which will be located on their side of the park. One person will stay in the jail at all times to watch the prisoners, this person can change but there must always be someone there. Each team will select a healer. The healers can go and retrieve the people from the jails but they can only take one at a time. The healers can be hit a maximum of eight times on each run to the jail before they are in jail themselves. Nobody else can get the healer out of jail so once they're there, you have to win with the people that you have left. Healers cannot, under any circumstances throw snowballs," Nada glared at everybody standing before her. "Does anybody have a problem with those rules?"

Nobody spoke.

"Alright then," Nada grinned. "The teams, according to snow ball strength, are the following…"

**Okay people, what did you think?**

**Oh yes, I would like to say thank you to fancygirl44, artisticfreedom and Zacharygallagherluver for their wonderful reviews. Or should I say **_**her**_** wonderful reviews. Perhaps she should take some advice on board but could everybody please give her a standing ovation through your monitors for her brazen yet failed attempts to make me feel bad. Thanks to you all 'cause you're all awesome!**

**Now REVIEW!**


	23. And It Is ON

**Chapter 23 – And It Is ON**

"Adrian, Dimitri, Hayley, Christian and…" Nada hesitated, looking imploringly at Jesse.

"Jesse," he supplied.

"Yes, you," she waved at him and then pointed to the rest of us. "You are the other team. You're on my side!" she said happily.

"Ooh joy," I whispered jokingly to Dimitri as we separated. "I get the evil dictator."

He grinned and walked to the other side of the group. Nada joined us. "Select your healer," she commanded. She turned to the group standing behind her, awaiting orders. "Lissa?"

"Yes?" Lissa replied timidly.

"You're the healer," she said firmly. "The rest of you… Pick who you want to be the jailor."

I looked at our options. Lissa was out, Mason was a good asset on the field – a few past snowball fights proving that – I was pretty handy with a clump of snow as well. I looked at Nada. "You," I said simply. "Are you sure we're the stronger team?" I asked doubtfully, looking at the other half of our friends.

"Yes," Nada replied, studying the snow underfoot. "I know you and Mason can fight really well. Dimitri's… impressive," she made a face. "Lissa's fast, I've fought in too many snowball battles to count…" she trailed off, averting her gaze to the opposite team. "Adrian and Christian look more like a liability but they might come out with something. That Jesse boy looks like he'd rather jump off a bridge than ruin his hair and Hayley's probably really good, growing up here and all."

"Right, there may be a problem," Lissa said, raising her hand timidly. "I'm not that fast."

"Fast enough," Nada waved a hand flippantly. "Alright teams!"

"No one named Teams here," Christian replied dryly.

Nada rolled her eyes but didn't dignify the comment with any other response. "The sides have been chosen," she declared dramatically. "One more thing before we split up. You can only take one person to jail at a time. You can have more than one in the jail but the healers and members of the opposite team can only bring in _one_ person. Build your jails and prepare yourselves for war!"

Everybody moved off in opposite directions at a rather sluggish pace, not one of us inspired by Nada's speech. That was, of course, until we were in a grove of trees.

"Alright!" Mason pumped his fist in the air. "Let's get 'em!"

Nada bent down and gathered some snow in her palm, crushing the white powder in her palm until it was like a rock. "Okay, battle plan."

I stepped up and took charge. Nada could play general as much as she wanted when everyone was around, but the real leading would be done by me. Nada seemed to accept this and she stepped down from her fictional station.

"It's pretty simple," I whispered. "All we do is…"

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**Dimitri P.O.V**

I wasn't sure what Nada was thinking when she divided the teams. It was more than obvious the other team – her team, predictably – was better off. This became abundantly clear when Jesse spoke.

"So where do we buy snow balls?"

His question was met by silence as Hayley and the rest of the group exchanged significant glances. I knew the others as acquaintances only but I was sure I liked them more than I liked Jesse. I'd seen him earlier, pulling Rose to him when she was clearly uncomfortable. I didn't like him. Nada, of course, had caught the glare I had sent briefly in his direction and began teasing me incessantly. Shortly after Rose had joined me. Thank God she didn't ask what we were talking about.

"Alright, Christian and Hayley and I are going to be the main players here. Jesse, you can start as the jailor and Adrian, you're the healer," I dealt out jobs as quickly as I could as we moved away from the other team.

"But I want to be a main player," Jesse complained immediately.

"I've always wanted to help people," Adrian sighed. "It's been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember."

Nobody else spoke as we moved over the snowy hills and I ignored both of those that had. We had gotten luckier than the opposing team at least. The trees were more abundant on this side of the park, the shrubbery hiding what the scattered trees couldn't.

"Go find a spot for the prison," I ordered Jesse unblinkingly. He gaped at me for a moment before Adrian took his arm and led him away, muttering to him as though he was a lost child.

I turned to Hayley and Christian. "We're allowed to start right away so that's what we'll do. Make as many snowballs as you can then come back here. It's best to get your snow from inside the trees, it's relatively untouched so it'll make better snowballs," I didn't wait for their reactions, I just left them standing there. I crept off, instinctively making my steps light so as not to be heard by the 'enemies' as I crept into a miniature forest.

"What kind of idiot are you? Seriously, I'm just so curious," Adrian's lazy voice drifted back to me, ruining my illusion of invisibility. For a moment I even thought he was talking to me and I was going to snap back at him. Then I saw him, standing over Jesse who had thrown himself onto his stomach in the middle of some foliage.

"I'm playing the game," he responded in an annoyingly obnoxious tone. "What are you doing?"

"Watching," Adrian replied dryly. "Idiots amuse me."

Jesse sighed heavily and I moved closer to their position, planning on stepping in and breaking up their little argument. "If you must know, I'm waiting for Rose."

The words stopped me dead in my tracks and I settled myself against a tree to hear more.

"I don't think she's going to stumble into your trap, no matter how cleverly disguised it is," Adrian smirked.

"I'm the jailor," Jesse reminded him smugly. "All someone has to do is hit her and she's mine."

"Yours?" Adrian asked doubtfully.

"Sure. Rose is a good looking girl… Well, she's hot. But who hasn't noticed that?" he paused. "But she likes me. I wouldn't mind getting her someplace private and quiet so I could show her what I think of her body."

I stepped forward, an overprotective anger driving me forward.

" You know," Jesse continued, "I bet she's really – Ow!"

"Sorry, I tripped. I didn't see you down there," I said coldly as I stumbled over the boy. I knew his ribs would be bruised from the amount of force with which I had 'tripped' over him.

Jesse scowled and rubbed the said ribs, getting up from his ridiculous position on the ground. "Yeah, right," he spat. He drew himself up to his full height. I think he may have been a little disappointed to discover the four inches difference in our height. I raised my eyebrows.

"I didn't," I stated calmly, still with the menacing expression.

Adrian stood outside our glaring contest, watching the exchange in amusement. "Excuse me, but aren't we all supposed to be on the same team?"

I fixed my cold stare on Adrian. "Yes. Why?"

"Just wondering," he shrugged, not at all intimidated by me. "I thought you were one of the 'main players'?"

I didn't reply as I moved away from them, leaving the two imbeciles to argue about hiding plans. Hiding wouldn't matter as much as defending in this game. I found a secluded patch of snow and I crouched down, going to work. I scraped enough snow together to make a decent amount of artillery and then crept back through the trees, ready to meet Christian and Hayley and launch our full scale attack. I got only halfway past the first bare stretch of snow when a white ball whizzed past my head, frighteningly close. I dropped my ammo and dove for the nearest cover, which happened to be a small mound that a child had obviously made during the day.

The sun was splaying its last rays of light over the snow, making it glitter. Through the sparkles I could see Mason, standing his ground in the middle of no where, fingers working a new snowball. I cursed silently and rolled to the side, scraping together the dirty snow people had walked all over earlier. I scooped the slush together and pressed it as hard as I could, making one pitifully small ball which I carefully aimed at Mason.

Mason was slowly advancing on my position, throwing his snow ball carelessly from one hand to the other. In the distance, I saw a flash of bright red moving through the trees on the other side of the park. I would have waved my arm, if I hadn't been worried about alerting Mason.

It appeared Hayley didn't need any help seeing her cousin and four seconds later, with a sharp crack, Mason was on the ground. Apparently Hayley had quite a throw.

"Got him!" she crowed from the trees. Another resounding crack echoed through the park. It was clearly going to be a rough game. I staggered to my feet and hurried out into the open, watching Rose lead a disappointed Hayley back through the trees, smiling smugly. Our eyes met and I knew it was on.

Going by the rules I grabbed Mason and pulled him up, sparing one last glance at Rose as she disappeared into the darkness of the trees, giving me one last flirty, dangerous look. I smiled and led Mason back to the last place I'd seen Jesse. Christian materialized at the edge of the trees and smirked at Mason, who scowled in return.

"Come on," I gestured for him to follow me.

"So, you guys got a jail yet?" Mason asked conversationally. He was scowling at me now and I didn't doubt he'd caught the exchange between Rose and I.

"I don't know," I responded stiffly, reacting to his hostility. Rose definitely attracted a lot of men.

"Hmph," he responded, following me grudgingly into the patch of forestry with Christian tailing us. He didn't even have to speak to be sarcastic. Jesse wasn't hard to find, already working on building small walls around himself. The area he'd chosen was a good one, I would give him that. I walked up to him and simply let go of Mason, leaving him standing in the middle of the shallow circle Jesse was creating. Adrian lounged against a nearby tree, waiting for his opportunity to do some good.

"Hayley was caught," I stated emotionlessly. "Christian, go with Adrian as he gets into trouble drag him back."

"Sure thing," Christian sighed and walked away again, probably annoyed at being pointlessly dragged through the trees. Adrian regarded me indifferently for a moment before he brushed past me. On his way he paused.

"I'll fight for her too, you know," he whispered. I almost groaned in frustration. I'd known Adrian's attraction to Rose but I'd thought that once he'd seen us kissing he'd give up. I guess none of us were giving up. This was going to be a dog fight until the end.

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**Hayley's P.O.V**

I couldn't believe that after only ten minutes of this stupid fight I was down. Rose apologised for capturing me as she led me back to her team's jail but didn't say much else. She just walked and smiled. I frowned, trying to puzzle out a way of escape. Nada hadn't actually said anything about escaping but I assumed it was…illegal? Was illegal the right word? It seemed to fit.

Nada was sitting inside an iced dome that resembled half an igloo. I frowned when I saw it, wondering if this had already been here and they were just using it. That wasn't against any rules, was it?

"Hi Hayley!" Nada said brightly, pulling me down beside her. "Thanks for getting me some company Rose!"

I made a face but smiled back at the cute Russian. It was hard not to love this girl and her brilliant ideas. I loved all her games, they took me back to the days when all my cousins and I lived in the same city. All of us meaning six. It had been nice.

"So what's your plan of attack?" I whispered conspiratorially as Rose moved off.

"I'd be killed if I told," Nada replied somberly.

"Oh," I sat back, dejected. "So what do we do?"

"We wait. Do you want to help me make snowballs so I can hit your healer when they come to rescue you?" she asked excitedly.

I hesitated. "I don't think I should be helping you build up your store if someone is going to come rescue me. Seems a bit stupid, helping the opposite team. I do like you Nada, it just doesn't seem like a smart move, helping you make weapons."

"We're not making weapons," she scoffed. "We're doing arts and crafts! Do you want to help or not?"

"Well, when you put it that way…"

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**Adrian's P.O.V**

Christian and I moved over the snow almost silently. Well, not silently but close enough. Belikov was nearly inaudible when he was only two feet away from you. I privately envied his ability as I crunched over the snow. I was on hyper alert. Belikov had informed everyone that if somebody hit the healer with a snowball while they were on their own side of the park then it didn't count, but as soon as they crossed over…

I'd gone over the obvious boundary a few yards back and I was getting anxious. I wasn't sure how good this team would be, but Rose was one dangerous woman. It was a part of her sex appeal, but it was also incredibly inconvenient right now.

I moved as quickly as I could for the cover of the sparsely scattered trees, knowing it wouldn't hide me very well but taking whatever advantage I could get. Christian followed in silence, both of us really getting into the game. Or maybe he just had nothing to say to me. As the last pink tinge was fading from the sky, my heart hammered in my chest and the adrenaline rush heightened my senses. Snow crunched somewhere to my left and I spun. Lissa was standing there, her back to me. If I hit her while she was over her side it wouldn't count. Yet it was oh so tempting... I turned to Christian and grinned, tilting my head in Lissa's direction. I could continue you on without protection if it meant we caught another one.

"No," Christian hissed, shaking his head.

"Why, 'cause she's your girlfriend?" I asked incredulously.

"Yes," I said quietly moving ahead of me.

I frowned and forced myself to move, darting to the next tree before my mischievous side got the better of me. I wasn't allowed to hit people anyway. We stumbled over the bracken that stuck up out of the snow towards the thickest part of the trees. Through it, I could plainly see Hayley's Santa suit, glaring in the dim light. That girl would end up like a beacon, easy to capture and easy to save. If we didn't get hit first.

I crept after Christian who silently stepped into the 'forest' and up to their jail from behind. I took a moment to gape at the mini fortress the jailor – Nada – had made herself. It was made of small blocks of snow, patted into a dome like shape that was missing its roof. Inside Hayley and Nada sat, chatting happily and making snowballs. I looked at Christian who raised his eyebrows. I rolled my eyes. _Girls_.

Christian nodded to me and fingered the snowball in his hand. As quietly as I could I walked up behind Hayley when Nada turned to scoop up more snow and tapped her lightly on the shoulder. I never knew Hayley could scream so loud...

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**Nada P.O.V**

When Hayley screamed I dropped the snow in my hands and whipped around to stare at her. What had happened? What had she seen? Was it a spider?!

"Um... hi," Adrian tried to work his charm. He had one hand on Hayley's shoulder and the other was up in the air, as though he were surrendering.n Behind him, Christian hefted a snowball menacingly.

"Hi," I replied breathlessly, staring at him. I was frozen where I was, unable to reach for the snow balls we'd already made. Adrian seemed to notice my shocked state and he slowly took advantage of the fact. He reached down and took Hayley's hand, pulling her up from the snow. Hayley looked as though she had just suffered a heart attack.

"Bye," Adrian grinned. "Say goodbye Hayley."

"Buh-bye Nada," Hayley said, hand over heart. She gave me a weak smile while Adrian and Christian led her away through the trees. My senses came back to me and I dove into action, scooping together the snowballs and yelling as loud as I could for Rose and Mason.

"Breach!" I screamed, a word I hadn't even known the meaning of until fifteen minutes ago. "Breach!"

Rose was by my side in a flash, standing there, her dark eyes glowing.

"Who's there healer?" she demanded, not wasting time.

"Adrian and Christian," I replied quickly, pointing at the trees Adrian had used to cover his escape. Rose made a face.

"Alright, stay here. Lissa should be back with Mason any minute."

"Mason was caught?" I gasped. Lissa needed to get him back.

"Yeah," Rose grabbed the snowballs I offered her. "Lissa's over there right now."

Rose hurried off into the darkness, leaving me to sit in my igloo and watch the soon to be ensuing mayhem. I smiled. Nobody knew, but this was when the war _really_ began.

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**Mason P.O.V**

I wondered how it had come to this. I was being held captive by an idiot. I sighed and shifted uncomfortably on the cold ground, eyeing up Jesse. Surely Rose couldn't be interested in him? But she'd seemed affectionate before... But she also seemed affectionate towards Belikov. Ivashkov was practically in the dirt.

My eyes drifted over the trees, trying to pick out shapes in the failing light. Belikov had disappeared as soon as he put me in with my brown headed jailor and I must admit, I was a little relieved. So far Rose had shown more preference for him and the pitiful excuse for a man sitting in front of me than to myself. It was getting on my nerves and Belikov was... well, he was way taller than me for one, faster, quieter and most probably stronger. I didn't delude myself on those counts.

"So we're just going to sit here?" I asked Jesse. As much as I didn't like the guy conversation was better than silence.

"I think so," he shrugged. "I can't tell you. You'd have to ask the other guy."

"His name is Belikov. Dimitri," I corrected, making a face. "His sister is the one who's running this little play war."

"The crazy one?" he clarified, tilting his head in my direction. I frowned.

"She's not crazy," I defended. "She's just… Actually, I don't know what she is. She just wants to have fun I guess."

"No," Belikov joined our conversation and I swear I jumped a foot in the air. "She just loves meddling."

I turned to look at the tall Russian who was watching us impassively. Honestly, his lack of shown emotion was kind of scary. Not that I'd admit that. I mean, it wasn't like he really intimidated me or anything. I was just saying, he could probably intimidate a lot of people if he tried. But he didn't try so he didn't intimidate me. I stopped my mental ramble before I blurted part of it out loud.

"Meddling with what?" Jesse asked.

Belikov paused, regarding the both of us with cool brown eyes. "She just meddles."

He didn't wait around for our replies – or questions – and he was gone as fast as he'd appeared.

"He's kind of weird, don't you think?" Jesse queried as he left.

I shrugged, not wanting to lump myself with either of my two rivals. Through the trunks of the scattered trees I saw a platinum blonde, waving frantically at me.

"Uh…" I said out loud, trying to think of ways to distract this idiot. Lissa gave me thumbs up and hid her slim frame behind one of the trees. "Jesse, do you think… um…" I frantically searched for a topic. "Do you think that's Rose over there?"

Jesse's eyes followed the direction I pointed and he gathered some snow in his hands, ready to lob it at the fictional Rose. Lissa darted forward and grabbed my arm.

"Where?" he asked excitedly.

"Just there," I said loudly as I stood. "I swear I just saw her! Rose! Get away!"

Lissa was giggling as we ran away from the frantically searching Jesse into the snowy field. "Nice distraction," she tittered.

"Yeah," I grinned. "I'm glad it wasn't real though. If Rose was over here I'd kill her."

"You'd try to," Lissa corrected.

"Nah. If she fought back I'd use you as a shield."

"Glad to know I'll be of some use," she replied uncertainly. We were getting close to the crossover point when I saw it, movement in the trees. I stepped in front of Lissa, automatically protecting the healer from danger.

"Get ready to run," I told her grimly. "Trouble."

"It's Hayley and Adrian," Lissa said, startled. "And Christian."

"Hey, I'm healed, right?" I checked. Lissa shrugged. "Cool." I bent down and scraped the snow together, clumping it together and forming a small hard ball. The two figures that were barely visible in the dark froze as well.

"This isn't going to be good," Lissa whispered, moving closer to my back.

"No, this is going to be fun," I grinned. Then they emerged, cresting the slight hill that separated us. Clutched in Hayley's hand was a small snowball and she was grinning just as widely as I was.

"Hey cuz," I greeted Hayley. Christian stood slightly to the side, hands in his pockets and watching the scene with indifference.

"Hey," she replied nonchalantly, tightening her grip on the snow. "You're on our side of the park."

"And you're on ours. How convenient."

Without another word the snowballs were lobbed. Hayley had a good throw, but my aim was better. Her snowball came short of its mark and crashed into the ground as Lissa and I dove for cover. I wasn't sure what happened to my snowball but I assumed I'd missed as well because Hayley was now half buried in snow, just like me. We both gathered another snowball and threw them as well, starting a full blown battle. The snowballs were being made at a rapid rate, Lissa and Adrian assisting. Christian still stood off to the side, somehow avoiding the raining snow.

"You're going down Hayley," I yelled, hoping to bring Rose out to rescue our sorry butts. If Christian decided to join in, we were gone.

"Keep talking Mason, I'm gonna make you eat your words," she replied, just as loud.

"I'll take them with barbecue sauce," I replied.

"So long as you eat them, I'm good!"

"Is the commentary really necessary?" Lissa interjected, stopping my response.

"It's a part of war, Lissa," I informed her incredulously. "It's a part of war."

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**Lissa P.O.V**

I crouched beside Mason in the snow, shielding myself from the sudden bombardment of snowballs. I tried to work as fast as I could, dragging my stinging fingers through the icy snow and handing the results to Mason who lobbed them back. I was lucky I hadn't been hit yet.

"We need to move," Mason whispered. "I'm going to use you as a shield now."

"What?" I asked, shocked. "But I can only be hit eight times!"

"Which is a hell of a lot more times than I can be hit," he replied, grimly, shooting to his feet and grabbing me, using me as a body shield as we ran clumsily to our side of the park. I felt the heavy impact of Hayley's hand made artillery as we went and didn't bother to count how many times I'd been hit.

We connected solidly with the ground after about fifty meters and the bombardment suddenly stopped.

"Oh shit!" I heard Hayley exclaim unhappily.

I looked up, wiping snow from my eyes to see Rose, standing over Hayley who sat fuming on the ground while her captor rained snowballs on Adrian who was making a desperate flight for his side of the park. I'd seen five hits and the sixth one had just connected with his shoulder blade when Adrian dove over the metaphorical line. I looked around for Christian, my eyes immediately alighting on his dark haired figure, grinning from the shade of the trees.

"You're lucky Ivashkov," Rose called after him as he lay on the snow, grinning at her. There was a playful sparkle in Rose's eyes, one she only got when she'd just beaten somebody down. "You only just made it!"

Adrian laughed and stood, wiping the snow from his pants. "It's not luck, Rosie, it's talent. Oh, Christian, thanks for the protection."

"No problem," Christian called back, settling into his tree.

Rose laughed as well, for once getting along with our neighbor. "Luck is a matter of opinion," she replied. She looked away from Adrian suddenly, here eyes fixed on a shape that was moving apathetically through the trees near Christian. Dimitri loitered on the very edge of the trees and eyed us all up, standing on our side of the park and smirking victoriously.

He muttered something, his eyes once again fixed on Rose and I noticed – not for the first time – the way he looked at her. It was a little different from the respectful way Adrian looked at her, worlds away from the lust-only look that Jesse gave her and almost the same as Mason's look of adoration. But it was altogether nicer. More interesting, perhaps a mix of all three and then his own little element. I couldn't quite puzzle out all the different emotions. Not in her eyes and not in his.

I smiled to myself as I watched them stare at each other, the dominant expression for both of them being amusement and challenge. It suddenly clicked, why Nada had put them on opposite teams. The teams weren't divided according to strength, at least not predominantly. She was trying to push them together, just like she had with truth or dare. It appeared that both of them liked to be challenged. I wondered how the other boys would affect her plan.

Rose turned away from Dimitri, who disappeared back into the shadows with Christian and was joined a moment later by Adrian who was suddenly scowling heavily.

"You guys okay?" she asked, her eyes glowing.

"Yeah, you?" Mason laughed.

"Perfect," she replied, guiding us back to a safer place. "You guys go straight back to Nada and tell her I'm… gone," she smiled.

Mason froze. "Gone where?"

"To the other side," she said ominously. "I'm going over, okay?"

"Okay…" Mason hesitated. "You want me to come?"

"If I did I would have asked," she informed him dryly. "Make sure our healer stays safe."

Rose winked at me and then ran off across the field.

"Where do you think she's going?" I asked as I watched my best friend disappear into the night. The full moon shed enough light to watch her slowly fading silhouette.

"I don't know, but if she's going to face Belikov…" he shook his head.

In contrast, I nodded. "Somebody's going to need a healer very soon."

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**Rose P.O.V**

I ran as far as I could, not even heading to the opposite side of the park yet. I needed an adjoining forest area before I tried to infiltrate their territory. The adrenaline rush felt great and I found myself more invigorated than I had been all day. I was grinning widely when I found what I was looking for. I scooped up some snow and ran onwards, silently melting into the darkness and creeping through the flora. As soon as I was over the 'line' I looked outside of my little patch of greenery. The evergreens around me provided decent enough cover for now.

Outside there was a huge expanse of dull white, the moon not allowing the snow to reflect as much as the sun. To my right, a hundred meters in front of me was another lot of trees. It was closer to their positions and it would probably let me hide even better.

Grinning, I ran out of my hiding spot, senses on high alert as I became hyper aware of the fact that I was very vulnerable right now. I wasn't sure how I was going to pull this off but I was sure as hell going to try, even if it meant improvisation.

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**Dimitri P.O.V**

I grinned, watching Rose hastily make her way to the next lot of trees. She was making the moves I would have made, had I been in her position. Quite obviously Rose was good at this kind of thing. I patted the snow in my hands almost obsessively.

This wasn't going to be as easy as I thought it would be.

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**Nada P.O.V**

"Rose has gone where?" I asked for clarification.

"To the other side," Mason replied nervously, hiding behind the walls of our jail and peering over the ice to see if anyone had followed him back to base.

"I think she's going to beat them down by herself," Lissa admitted.

"No," I said thoughtfully. "I think it more likely that she's gone over there to scope it out or face down my brother."

"Which one would be better?" Mason asked, still jumpy.

I grinned. "Scoping it out would be better but Dimitri and Rose in a one on one fight... That's going to be interesting. I hope Dimitri wins."

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**Rose P.O.V**

"Hey," I said nonchalantly, staring into his light brown eyes.

"Hello," he smiled at me.

"So I guess we throw wet stuff at each other," I commented, looking around at the trees that surrounded us. We both had decent cover.

"I guess we do."

Neither of us moved from where we stood. It was a matter of who threw the first slush ball. I didn't think Dimitri would give an indicator when he was about to throw but even so it took me by surprise. He hurled the snow faster than I had previously thought possible and I realised I didn't have time to aim for the cover of a tree trunk. I dropped to the ground and literally felt the snow fly past me.

The stillness returned. Dimitri stood motionless, hands at his sides, one snow ball left. I slowly pushed myself up, watching him even more intensely.

"Try that again," I dared when I was back on my feet.

He gave me no response, except for his second and last snowball flying right at me. I was ready this time and I was behind the tree before he could gather more snow. I flung one of my 'bullets' blindly from behind the tree and heard it connect with something.

"Did I get you?" I called out, grinning.

"No, sorry," he laughed. "You did get a tree though."

"Nice," I muttered, sliding to my feet. I dared a quick glance around the bark to see Dimitri, moving behind the tree to his right. I hefted my other snowball, aiming up carefully. I didn't want this game to be over yet; I just wanted to scare him so I aimed for the tree and sent the icy snow flying. It broke apart on contact and sprayed Dimitri with the white powder.

When he caught my eye I smiled cheekily and waved, pulling myself back behind my tree and bending to gather more snow. I felt like there should have been dramatic music playing but the silence was almost eerie. The darkness in these trees was almost complete and I decided to risk a run to another tree.

I glanced around again and made my dash of two meters. Snow showered down on me from above as i ran and I flinched instinctively away from it.

"You missed, Dimitri!" I called when I was once again under the cover of a towering pine tree.

"I suppose you 'missed' me as well then?" he called back, sounding a lot closer than he had before. I cursed under my breath and chanced another look around the tree. He was just a shadowy figure, moving through the trees to my left.

I held my snowball for a moment and then spun around, away from the tree and loosed the weapon on him. "Take that!" I called as I ran.

"You missed again," he called after me. I was running as fast as I could, trying to find another tree where he wouldn't be able to find me. The stretch of trees seemed to go on forever and finally I threw myself behind the only available trunk, panting.

I scooped up some more snow and carefully carved it into a roughly ball like shape.

There was silence. I was sure Dimitri had followed me. I wasn't sure he knew what tree I was behind but he knew I was here. Eventually, one of us would give away our position. Just one mistake and I would know where Dimitri was, one sound. Neither of us were ready to make a mistake. The game couldn't be over this quickly. It was going to be a long wait.

I slid down the tree, landing on the cold, soft ground. I really wanted to have a gun or something so I could reload it but I knew I would just have to settle for the cold item in my hands. I caught my breath while I was sitting and wondered about Mason and Lissa. They had to have made it back to Nada and told her where I was by now.

I wondered what Nada thought f me running off by myself, She would take charge now that I was no longer present on 'our side' of the park. But then, it might be a part of her master-plan-conspiracy thing.

I touched the hat on my head, making sure it was still firmly seated and hadn't fallen off during my flight. I was about to sigh, but caught myself at the last moment. One sound and he would know where I was and the game would be over.

I stood and crept away from my tree, repositioning myself behind one not four yards from where I was previously. I would move tree by tree until I found him. My heart was thundering strangely in my chest, making my whole body feel like a giant heartbeat as I moved to the next tree. I peered through the darkness as I went, clutching the snowball in my palm. _Well this is fun_.

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**Jesse P.O.V**

I sat in the shallow ditch I'd made for myself as I waited for someone to come back with Rose. I was getting really upset with them all, running off and leaving me here. I was even more annoyed with The crazy girl's brother, Dimitri something. My side ached from where he'd kicked me and no matter how much he denied it I was sure he'd done it on purpose.

"Ow," I whined to the trees. "What a prick."

I rubbed my ribs gently and fumed at the tree roots near my foot. This game sucked.

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**Rose P.O.V**

That was it. It had been fifteen minutes and my heart had stopped roaring in my ears and consequently had stopped my adrenaline rush. I was getting _really_ bored. I tapped my foot impatiently on the snow. I knew what I had to do. To relieve the boredom I had to give away my position, bring Dimitri out.

I stepped out into the open and opened my mouth to call out to him but it was as though I'd summoned him. Dimitri was there, his back to me, creeping away. Damn he was quiet. I grinned evilly and brought my snowball to the ready, aiming carefully. He was fast. One whisper would make him duck. I carefully adjusted my footing and looked back up, just in time to see Dimitri, now facing me, smirking.

"Oh great," I threw my hands up further into the air, figuring it was safe 'cause he didn't have a snowball with him. Dumb move.

"Sorry," he was still smirking. It wasn't an arrogant smirk... It was more of a I-know-something-you-don't-know smirk.

"What?" I demanded, dropping my hands.

"Nothing," he grinned.

"What?!"

He shrugged and raised his hands innocently. "It's nothing. Really. Don't worry about it."

I opened my mouth to retort but before I could, a huge clump of snow suddenly fell from above, half burying me and soaking through my clothes and hair. I gasped in shock. I looked up, bewildered, at the towering pine and saw the now snow relieved bough directly above my head. I didn't have time to register anything else except Dimitri's laughter before a missile smacked into my stomach.

I gasped again from the impact and staggered back into a tree.

"Ow," I said in surprise more than pain. I looked at Dimitri, who was still laughing at me. "Ow!"

"I'm sorry," he managed through his incessant laughter.

"You hit me," I stated dumbly. "That hurt!"

"I'm sorry," he repeated, stifling his laughter and walking forward to get me. "You know I have to take you to our jail now?"

"Yeah, I got that smartass," I snarled. I wasn't a good loser.

Dimitri grinned at me again and took my arm, sending little electric shocks through me. Through my jacket I could feel the heat from his hand and I wondered if it was because I was just that cold.

"Come on, let's go," I grumbled, ripping my arm out of his grasp and storming off without him. He laughed at my behavior and caught up easily.

"What do you think I should have done?" he asked, taking my hand and pulling me to a stop.

I looked up at him, startled. He smiled at me and tightened his fingers around mine briefly. I smiled back, enjoying the warmth. I didn't focus on much else after my fingers had been scraping in snow for so long.

"Your hands are so cold," he mumbled, taking my other hand as well and pulling them to his lips. I would have frozen in place, had we still been walking. He exhaled on my fingers, his breath skittering across my skin, somehow warming my entire body. The heat became irrelevant after that, my eyes were fixed on his lips, not centimeters away from my skin.

"Uh-huh," I managed. I was pretty sure I sounded strangled but I was too distracted to care. Dimitri looked up at me, catching my eyes and pulling them away from his mouth. He smiled sweetly and let our intertwined hands fall back down. He started walking again, pulling me along with him, dazed and a little weak.

"Well?" he asked.

"Well what?"

"What do you think I should have done?"

"I don't know," I mumbled. "Warned me?"

He laughed again. "Would you have warned me?"

"No," I smiled. "But it would have been funnier if we'd swapped places."

"Only for you." He pulled me out of the trees and into the snowy field. The darkness was good cover and we walked calmly across the flat white expanse.

"Still would have been funnier," I muttered, stepping forward so we were level with each other.

He smiled but didn't speak and we walked the rest of the way in comfortable silence. When we walked into the shallow trees I immediately saw Jesse, playing with a piece of his hair and staring in boredom at Adrian who sat on the other end of the jail, doing what looked suspiciously like sleeping.

"You do know we have Hayley, right?" I asked.

Both boys jumped, turning to stare at Dimitri and I returning from the wilderness.

"Right," Adrian eyed me up. "What happened to you?"

"Snowfall got a bit heavy," I said in way of explanation. I knew Jesse was the jailor so I sat down next to him, taking my hand from Dimitri's and glaring up at him. "Thanks, but you can go now."

Dimitri laughed. "No, Jesse wanted to be one of the 'main players'. I can't deny him this opportunity."

A look was passed between all three of the guys and I found myself lost. What the hell had happened here? Jesse stood, and with a glare at Dimitri he stormed away huffily. Adrian slinked away into the darkness, staring intently at me as he went.

"What was that about?" I demanded as Dimitri sat down next to me and started building up the pathetic walls of the jail.

He looked at me briefly. "What?"

"That," I gestured, unable to think of another word to describe it.

"Nothing," he replied innocently, focusing on molding the snow into a solid wall.

"Yeah, right," I rolled my eyes and leaned back on my hands, ready to settle in for the long haul. There was a resounding scream from far away and then squeals and laughter followed. I shot up, staring in the general direction of the line.

"Back!" Hayley yelled, obviously taking charge. "Get back!"

"Not a chance!" Lissa called back. "We want Rose!"

"No way," Hayley giggled. They were very close to us. I looked at Dimitri and we shrugged in unison, returning to listening to the steadily approaching battle.

"Watch out!" Mason yelled, right after Adrian yelped.

"The warning comes before you throw the fucking thing!" Adrian called back, cursing loudly.

"Sorry," Christian's voice was completely apathetic. "My bad."

"Christian, duck!" I heard Lissa shrieking with laughter.

"Don't warn the enemy!" Hayley cried.

Dimitri suddenly started scooping up snow again, building snowballs. He started taking snow from the walls and the ground outside the jail.

I watched the formidable build up of snowballs and smiled, edging closer to him. Lissa would never rescue me if Dimitri had enough ammo. She wouldn't be able to get through the crossfire. I had to distract him. I put my hand on his shoulder and he froze, his eyes darting to mine.

"Aren't you going to watch me?" I asked, playing innocent. If Lissa was coming to save me then I might as well make most of the time I had alone with him. Dimitri wasn't stupid and he calculated what I was doing in a split second, taking my hand in his and putting it back by my side.

"Yes," was his curt reply. He went back to making snow balls.

Okay. He wasn't fighting fair. Alright then, neither was I. I sighed and laid back against the snow, well aware that at any moment someone could get close enough to poke their head over the side of the jail 'walls' and see what I was about to do. It didn't deter me. Just like the cold didn't deter me.

"Dimitri," I said his name as softly as I could, knowing his sense of curiosity would make him look, at least briefly. He did. It was all I needed.

After all, it only takes a second to undo one button. Dimitri watched me, torn between what he was supposed to be doing and his desire to watch me. I smiled as alluringly as possible and he wavered.

"You want me to stop?" I whispered, looking around, half worried someone might be coming another part of me not caring. He didn't reply. He just sat, stony faced and stared at me. I stared back at him and buttoned my shirt up again. I already had his attention "Okay."

I sat up and stared at him playfully, well aware of the havoc wreaking outside. The sound of snowballs hitting trees or people was now audible. It appeared the game had degenerated to your average snowball fight. Dimitri dropped the snow in his hands, a small smile on his lips. He leaned toward me, inches away and flicked my hat backward, letting it land in the snow.

"Thank you," he breathed, still ever so close to me.

"For which part?" I smiled coyly.

"For stopping," he grinned and leaned away from me. He didn't pick up the snow again, he just stared at me, waiting for me to make the next move.

I smirked and crossed my arms over my chest. This wasn't the game we were supposed to be playing but in my opinion, it was way more fun. "Why would you want me to stop?" I whispered. I only whispered because I was seriously afraid someone would hear me and come running around to 'rescue' me.

"I don't," he grinned. "But it's necessary."

"Why?" I asked, hiding my glee at his admission. "They won't care," I tilted my head in the direction of the battle noises.

"I think some of them will," he leaned forward, his expression intense. "But I think the real problem is that I won't."

I stilled, staring at him and the amusement and lust in his eyes.

He looked so damn sexy.

I had to kiss him.

I leaned forward, wrapping my arms around his neck and quite literally throwing myself at him, pressing our bodies together. He responded, running his hands up and down my sides, asking to turn this into something more. I kissed him harder and parted my lips under his, letting him take control of where this kiss was going. I felt a fire ignite in me when he ran his tongue across my bottom lip. I dragged myself impossibly closer, kissing him with all the passion I was capable of, taking over. He wasn't moving fast enough. Dimitri had other ideas, I guess, because suddenly he was on top of me, still kissing me, grabbing my waist and pulling me closer, making my heart race and letting the kiss go further and further, until the heat between us could pretty much have melted the ice. I don't think I would have noticed if it did. I didn't need to breathe, not while I could taste him, feel him pressing himself into me, molding his body to my own.

My hands were frantic, trying to explore every part of his body before the kiss finished, trying to push it to the very limits of what we could do. Dimitri seemed just as desperate as I was, running his hands all over me, touching me in ways that made me moan. That didn't help. Well, it wouldn't have helped us to stop. It certainly helped in heating things up even more. He moved faster, kissed me harder, let his body melt into mine until I didn't need my hands to feel him. He let his lips leave mine for a brief second, allowing us both to breathe for a second. In that second he murmured my name, 'Roza', and let his lips crash back down onto mine, putting more intensity into this kiss, it was far more deliberate, sending me a message I didn't want to say no to.

I replied by dragging my hands down his back and breaking the kiss. A snow covered park was not the place for this kind of thing. Of course, that thought was immediately forgotten when he turned his attention to my neck and collarbone, showering me with sensual kisses until I had to drag his lips back to mine so I could ease the craving. I felt him smile and then return his attentions to driving me crazy with his lips alone. I guess we would have kept on kissing, hopefully we would have left and gone somewhere private… with a bed… Except for the coughing.


	24. Exercise

**I'M BACK! I am ridiculously excited to be updating again. I think it's unhealthy. All the same, here I am! I personally really love this chapter. The flower thing is something I've wanted to do for a really long time so YAY ME.**

**I realise I'm **_**really**_** late on the update but I had – not to sound cliché – a series of unfortunate events which will be explained later.**

**I had six pages of people adding me to favourites and reviews when I got onto my e-mail so give yourselves a pat on the back.**

**Heads up to all of you that just did that – You're retards. But thanks for your co-operation.**

**All of you that didn't, FOR SHAME...**

**Chapter 24 – Exercise**

I kicked the door to my bedroom open and stormed inside, ignoring Lissa's giggles and attempted apologies.

"Whatever, Liss," I grumbled, slamming the door shut in her face. I wasn't really as put out with Lissa as I pretended to be. I was more annoyed at Hayley, she being the one who had gotten to the 'jail' first. I thought back to her amused smirk and the snow she clutched in her hand. Awkward. Needless to say, the rules of the snowball fight still stood, meaning Dimitri and I were fair game, even though our moment had obviously been private.

I flopped onto my bed and sighed heavily, mindlessly glaring at the ceiling. It was too good a moment to be interrupted and yet...

Hayley had informed the entire park – including a pair who were doing much the same thing as Dimitri and I were – about our romantic escapade, much to my irritation and, if I were being completely honest, my complete and utter humiliation. It had been an awkward departure on most behalves, except for Nada, Hayley and Lissa, who were still giggling hysterically by the time we'd all gone our separate ways.

I could hear Lissa, right now, feeding Iolanthi in the laundry, the kitten's persistent meowing echoing through the apartment. I listened to the ruckus the tiny fluff ball made, and being more annoyed at one person than I had ever been in my entire life, I fell asleep.

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"Adrian," I hissed. If I were a cat my fur would be standing on end. Hell, I'd rather be a big cat, like a lion so I could hunt the aforementioned down and claw him to death.

"Uh, miss? Could you please just take these? They're... well, they're heavy," the delivery boy asked me nervously. My expression must have been as murderous as my thoughts.

"Take them next door," I snapped, pointing. "And tell that bastard that if he ever sends me anything like this again I will personally see to his execution."

"A subsequent delivery costs eight dollars," the pimply faced boy panted. "And messages cost three."

I paused, gripping the door frame as hard as I could. "I don't have eleven dollars on me right now," I said through gritted teeth. "But I'm sure Adrian would love to pay for me. After all, he sent these to me."

I touched a death lily that was nearest to me and tore through the delicate, papery like substance of its single petal. The massive flower arrangement had been sent from a secret admirer, according to the card, but the extravagant and obviously pointless expense had 'Adrian' written all over it.

"Next time tell him to send me something useful. Like perfume or something," I frowned in disgust and closed the door.

"Should I include that in the message?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, thank you."

I turned back to the empty apartment. Lissa had taken Iolanthi to the vet so she could be immunised against some kind of cat flu and be de-sexed. I personally thought it would be an unpleasant experience and had opted to stay home.

It was a weird sensation, not having a kitten to trip over or curse at and I meandered aimlessly through the house for a moment. Or, I tried to. Somebody was knocking frantically at the door.

"What?" I asked, opening the door to the delivery boy. He had sweat dribbling down the side of his face, a decidedly unpleasant look for him. The million or so flowers were still clutched in his arms.

"Uh... Mr Ivashkov sent me back," he swallowed nervously as he examined my impatient expression. "He has a message too."

"Spill," I said, in the most bored drawl I could muster.

"It's a poem," he said straight-faced. I motioned for him to continue. "Okay, here goes 'Rose is in red, But never in blue...' uh... I forgot the rest," he muttered, his face becoming even more pink that it already was from exertion.

"Then you'd better go ask him," I said simply.

The boy hesitated, examining my expression to make sure I was serious. "Miss, these are really heavy."

"So you've said," I muttered, closing the door. I heard a groan through the thin piece of wood and shuffling footsteps as the tired and abused boy struggled back to Adrian's door. I looked at the clock. It was ten am. I wondered how long this would continue.

I heard muffled voices and Adrian's laughter followed by a murmured conversation. I leaned back on the door, trying to eavesdrop on the conversation I knew I would soon be a part of anyway.

There was a brief silence and then a knock on my door. I jumped in surprise. The delivery boy had either dumped his delivery on Adrian's doorstep as I had commanded or he'd suddenly gotten lighter on his feet. I opened the door and stared directly at the array of flowers, daisies, lilies, rose's, tulips and some flowers I didn't know the names of. Holding the bunch was a grinning Adrian.

"Go away," I said flatly. "I don't want to talk to you."

"Now, Rose," Adrian set the flowers down on the floor. "Is that any way to talk to your kind, unselfish, sweet, lovable, handsome and caring neighbour?"

"It wouldn't be, if I had one. Unfortunately I live next to a sewer rat instead."

"Ouch," he grinned. I rolled my eyes and prepared to close the door.

"This excuse better be a really good one," I threatened.

"I loooooooooooove yooooooouuuuuuu!" he howled like a sick puppy. With a blank expression I slammed the door shut.

"You'd better be leaving when I come back," I shouted, storming to the couch and throwing myself down. I tapped my foot impatiently on the floor and stared at the television. Only children's shows would be playing at this time so there was no point to turning it on. It was Saturday, of all days. Probably one of the worst days of my life.

I huffed in boredom. And then... A brilliant idea. I jumped up, suddenly re-energized and ran to my bedroom, grabbing the most appropriate clothes for what I was planning to do. I ran to the bathroom and turned on the shower, jumping in and washing myself down as quickly as I could. Having a proper shower would be... well, redundant.

After I dried myself I pulled on the tank top and sweat pants I had grabbed to myself and ran to the door, grabbing a jacket off the counter as I passed it. I grabbed the last key from the wicker bowl and opened the door, only to find myself in a miniature forest. Adrian was gone, but the flowers were as abundant as they ever were. I struggled through the bouquet and emerged on the other side without injury. With great enthusiasm I bounced down the stairs, not bothered to wait for the elevator and straight out the front doors.

I ran down the street, my feet patting softly on the snow in my sneakers. There were a lot of people around, some families that were still enjoying the snow and some people with shopping bags. I beamed at everyone I passed, quite proud of myself for my ingenious plan and excited about completing it.

I jogged most of the way to Vantage Point Gym, too worked up to walk. When I walked inside the fairly big building I didn't even get the chance to scan the room before the woman sitting behind a desk to my left called me over.

"Can I help you?" she asked sweetly. She didn't look like the type to be working in a gym, what with her long painted nails and permed blonde hair with white highlights.

"No, I don't think so," I replied absently.

"Are you sure?" she questioned, pulling a flier from her desk drawer. "We offer memberships. You can even sign up for a personal trainer."

I smiled to myself. "No thanks," I replied, unable to keep the humour out of my voice. "I'm just looking for Dimitri Belikov. Do you know where he is?"

The woman gave me a sugary sweet smile. "He's waiting for his client to arrive. Do you have some sort of appointment?"

"Nah," I replied with a wink. "I'm more of the 'on the spur of the moment' kind."

I walked away from the desk, raking through the room in an attempt to find him. The first face I recognised was the dark skinned Ginger, standing over her client who was jogging and barking encouragement. I smiled and hurried over, sure that if anyone knew where I could find him, it would be Ginger.

"He's over there," Ginger said, without looking up from her client. She jabbed her thumb over her shoulder.

"Thanks," I grinned. The expression was lost on the small woman as she corrected her clients pace on the treadmill. I walked past her, excitedly scanning the rest of the room. I found Dimitri, not twenty metres away, lying on his back and lifting weights.

As soon as I saw him excitement took over and I bounced over to him. I was about to open my mouth and say hello but the words got stuck in my throat as I looked down at him. There was a coat of sweat on his muscled arms and the small bit of his stomach that was revealed where his shirt had slipped up during his exercises. I froze, looking down at him and thinking of all sorts of naughty things I could do to him in this position.

I swallowed heavily and turned around, staring intently at the ceiling while I gathered my wits. _Cool, Rose_, I thought to myself _Just calm down_. When I turned back to Dimitri he was still oblivious to me so I ogled for a few more moments.

"Hey Comrade," I said playfully, unintentionally adding a sultry undertone.

Dimitri's grip on the weights tightened as he lifted them above his head one more time and let the bar fall into place on the stand. He sat up quickly and looked at me, his brown eyes bright. As soon as he looked at me the butterflies in my stomach increased tenfold and my heart started beating painfully against my rib cage. There was something palpably different between us now, some new kind of tension. Or maybe it was the tension that had always been there but since our furious make out session last night it had just increased.

"Hey," he replied. It was kind of like the first time we'd met, except we'd switched roles and it was _way_ less embarrassing. He'd frozen that day, refusing to move anywhere whereas I'd just wished I could pick up the damn blanket. Dimitri reached for the towel that was on the floor next to him and wiped the back of his neck. I smiled at the irony.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, wiping the sweat from his forehead, arms and chest. I didn't reply for a moment, wanting desperately to take the towel off him and do it myself.

"I decided I wanted to come to a gym," I shrugged and smiled. "You're an added bonus."

"Nice to know I get second place," he stood and picked up any stuff he'd brought with him to the weights.

"It's in debate," I breathed, letting my eyes tour his body as he straightened.

"My client's going to be here soon," he mentioned, looking to the door.

"Oh well," I took his free hand and pulled him away from the equipment. "They're not here yet."

There was a conveniently placed bench pressed up against the wall and I led Dimitri to it, dodging the people that were walking between all the machinery.

"So you just came here to work out?" Dimitri asked as he sat down beside me. I nodded.

"Of course, what else would I be doing here?"

"Hmm," he stared at me for a short moment. "I can't imagine."

There was a silence the space of a few seconds in which I thought back to last night. The same fire had started burning as soon as I'd seen him and in those short seconds my stomach lurched as though I were on a rollercoaster. Dimitri leaned toward me and smiled, and just as I was about to close the twenty centimetre space between us, a voice interrupted.

"Hi Dimitri," a breathy female voice chirped. Dimitri jerked away from me and turned to look up at a blonde girl, giggling before him.

I dropped my head in my hands and took a deep, slightly unsteady breath before I looked up at the girl as well. She was probably a bit older than me, her blonde hair swept back into a ponytail. She was wearing ridiculously skimpy clothing and batting her eyelashes continuously at the Russian hottie beside me. I couldn't blame her for trying... but I did. I scowled at her and her already toned body. What the hell did she need to be here for?

"Hello Izzie," Dimitri smiled and stood. I stayed seated, watching this Izzie girl speculatively.

"I'm ready for our session," Izzie said, spinning in a circle to show off her 'outfit'. It couldn't be called clothing. It was closer to pieces of cloth, craftily tied over the more intimate parts of her body.

Dimitri gave her a patient smile. "That's great. We'll start with the treadmill."

Izzie squealed and turned on her heel, skipping over to the treadmills. I raised my eyebrows and watched her go.

"Yeah, that's great," I said sarcastically.

"She's a bit..." he hesitated. "A bit slow."

"Yup," I agreed. _She's a dumbass slut_, my mind seethed. "She likes you."

He looked at me speculatively. "Are you jealous?"

"No."

"Oh," he smiled and started walking after the blonde bimbo. _Not yet..._

I followed at a fair distance, wanting to observe but not interfere. Unless it was necessary. If she was about to choke and die, I would stay out of it. If she touched Dimitri, I'd make sure she choked and died.

Dimitri arrived at the treadmill and played with the buttons, obviously setting the pace for his client.

"Thanks Dimitri," she giggled. I rolled my eyes in disgust and walked over to Ginger who was still barking at the sweaty and slightly pudgy woman who had opted for Ginger to be her trainer.

Ginger looked at me slyly but gave no other indicator that she knew I was there. I sat down on the end of the treadmill next to them and stared down the line to where Dimitri was now helping Izzie onto the treadmill. She clutched his arm and stumbled into him dramatically.

"Sorry," she tittered. "I'm so clumsy."

Dimitri just gave her another patient smile and pressed the start button. I fumed silently as she started to jog, exaggerating the movement so her breasts bounced under her shirt. Dimitri stood beside her, watching the screen attentively. It went on, Izzie jumping up and down, trying to get Dimitri to notice her, Dimitri staring at the screen and me, staring at the both of them. It was about twenty minutes later that the routine was broken.

"Let's move on to something else," Izzie complained. "I'm tired of running."

I rolled my eyes again and crossed my arms. This girl was insufferable. The constant giggling, the failed attempts at flirting, the attention seeking attitude and then the inane chatter. It would drive me insane. Dimitri had to be one of the most patient people I had ever met.

"What would you like to do?" Dimitri asked lightly.

I was watching them intently, trying to puzzle out this tenuous looking relationship when a hand came down on my shoulder. I jumped and scowled up at Ginger.

"You look anxious," she laughed. There was a steel look about Ginger that made me like her. She was solid, not some prissy girl that would run and scream if she saw blood. Having seen more than my fair share of blood – mine and those I had gotten annoyed with – I respected that quality.

"Anxious?" I mused. "Not really. Ready to break some of her bones? Yeah."

Ginger laughed again and then returned her attention to her client who was currently sitting beside the treadmill sipping water.

I returned my attention to Dimitri and Izzie smiling a little. Dimitri had obviously come up with a new exercise that Izzie was thrilled about because she threw her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek in an overly affectionate way. Cue Insane Jealous Rage.

I stormed over to where Izzie stood, still rubbing herself all over _my_ Dimitri.

"What the hell do you think –" I began.

Ginger caught me about the waist before I could finish my sentence. It didn't really matter. Both Dimitri and Izzie must have heard me.

"What are _you_ doing?" I asked incredulously.

Ginger grinned coyly. "Don't jump in now," she cautioned. "Wait until they get to the weights."

"Why?" I asked as the small woman let me go.

"Because," she scoffed. "That way we can get rid of her for good."

Before I could repeat the previous question Ginger had disappeared and was convincing her client to get back on her feet. I looked to Dimitri and Izzie who were making their way to a whole hell of a lot of equipment I wouldn't be able to begin to name. I'd used most of them at least once before but I always ignored the names and, to be honest, the safety precautions as well.

Dimitri gave me a long look as he followed Izzie over that I couldn't quite figure out. He looked like he was trying to puzzle something out and I was sure my expression was almost exactly the same.

I stalked after him, not intending to sit anywhere near as far away as I had before. If this girl wanted Dimitri there was going to be one hell of a fight for him. I leaned against another piece of machinery as Dimitri settled down beside his client and began explaining the most probably boring dynamics of the equipment she was going to be using. I wouldn't know because I tuned it all out, focussing intently on where she put her hands. And, for that matter, where Dimitri put his.

When finally Izzie seemed to get the idea of the workout she began without another word. It shocked me that she still had breath while she was on the treadmill. I stood not half a meter behind the source of my paranoid jealousy, glaring at the top of her head. Dimitri stood by her for a few minutes, helping her but always sparing a glance at me every few seconds. I wondered what he was thinking for the next period of time that I couldn't judge because of his constant glances as he talked to the bimbo.

"My neck really hurts," Izzie suddenly complained. She stopped working and sat up, twisting her torso away from Dimitri. "Right here, see?" she fingered a spot on the back of her neck, obviously expecting Dimitri to feel for bumps or something. I froze. If he touched her, he was a dead man.

Dimitri sighed. "Alright Izzie, take a break." He sounded distinctly resigned.

"Oh... Okay," she muttered uncertainly. "I'll just go get my drink..."

Izzie stood and, eyeing me warily the whole time, she left the bench to go find her stuff.

"Huh," I mumbled as she went.

Dimitri snaked his arms around my waist as soon as she disappeared and put his lips next to my ear, making my heart jump.

"I thought you would be working out today?" he chuckled.

"Yeah... So did I," I sighed, tracing the contours of his arm.

"So what are you doing instead?"

"Making sure she doesn't put her hands on you," I mumbled.

He laughed as if he didn't know what I was doing, shadowing him and this flirty slut. "So you're jealous _now_?"

"No," I replied boldly. "Just..." I couldn't think of a word to describe what this was. Protective hovering? Obsession? So I decided it was my turn to flirt I took a small step back, leaning against the wall and pulling Dimitri along with me. "I want to be the only one touching you," I whispered.

Dimitri tensed, his grip around my waist tightening. The flames from last night, still flickering burst to life again when he moved his lips to my throat. My breath caught.

"I think," I gasped. "We're in public."

Dimitri chuckled again, his laughter reverberating off my skin sending chills down my spine. "You've been watching me this entire time," he breathed confidently, pulling away to stare at me.

Naturally I had been. I'd been trying to come across as though I'd only been focussing on Izzie's hands and where they were but more times than I'd cared to count my eyes drifted to Dimitri just because he was there... And he looked great.

"Yes," I smiled slyly. There seemed to be a line we had crossed last night, our relationship had taken a major turn towards a serious involvement and consequently we were both saying things we wouldn't have yesterday. "Do you have a problem with it?"

He shrugged, his brown eyes sparkling. "Yes and no. I like it but it's very distracting."

He returned his attention to my neck, placing feather light kisses from my ear to my collarbone.

"Sorry," I whispered, my hands moving up his back. "I'll try to stop."

"Please do," Izzie had returned.

Neither Dimitri nor I moved for a second. I personally wouldn't have moved at all after the commanding tone she had said her words in. Dimitri pried himself away from me and turned back to Izzie. She was glaring daggers at me and completely ignoring him.

"Have you had a break?" Dimitri asked unnecessarily. It made me smile. I knew he was reluctant to stop our moment but a gym wall was _really_ not the place. Of course, it wouldn't have stopped me.

"I'm ready to train!" she announced happily.

**Series Of Unfortunate Events:**

**I'm telling you, so many things went wrong on this trip and I'm starting to think that technology hates me. Actually, I'M FAIRLY SURE IT DOES.**

**So, we were four days into our trip and we were staying at my grandparents place. My MP3 player ran out of battery and for those of you that don't know this about me, music is something that is vital to my survival. I tend to reflexively scream 'Noooooooooo' when it runs out of battery. At an embarrassingly loud level. In public places.**

**Okay, so my MP3 running out of battery isn't such an issue because I can just plug it into a computer and it'll charge right up. I turned on my dad's laptop and all I got was the blue screen of death. 'This computer has encountered a problem. Shutting down will ensure all data stays safe…' So, once again I was laptop-less. I ran to my sisters and asked if I could use their laptops to charge my MP3 – 'cause writing wasn't really on my mind at this point – and being the lovely, caring and understanding sisters that they are, they said no because I might have a virus and their laptops didn't have virus protection. I was devastated.**

**My mother – 'cause she's nice like this – went to a computer store – it was eight pm – and bought me an MP3 charger for eight dollars. So she was in my good books for a long while.**

**Of course, the next day I encountered a new problem. I couldn't write. I once again went to my sisters and begged. Literally begged, which isn't something I do often. They said no. It wasn't until the twelfth day that I got my hands on a laptop. My cousin allowed me to check e-mail and I wrote quite a lot on her computer. I wrote this chapter. Regrettably, I had that computer for two days only so I haven't written the other two. I've begun the next one though!**

**We got home two days later than expected. The first day I got on and checked my e-mail at about nine at night but I couldn't be bothered to actually upload my chapter. Give me a break! I'd been in the car since four am and had only just got back! I was really out of it. The next day, I came back to the computer only to find that our wireless internet had been knocked out by our friendly neighbourhood windstorm. SO I ony got to updating today. I am sorry and I'll try to writer these chapters as fast as I can. I think I should stop promising you guys stuff though, something always goes wrong and I don't have any more laptops to go through.**

**Overworked~**


	25. Ginger

**Wow I love writing this story! Here you go, have a chapter! You all rock but I just have a little memo down the bottom for some of my less than ardent admirers.**

**Chapter 25 – Ginger**

I settled back into the wall, alternating between my 'hands off' vigil and sultry looks at Dimitri. It was fun, building this mutual frustration even if it was a double edged sword.

I remained completely silent throughout the next hour, only smirking or rolling my eyes when Izzie would try a more extravagant way to get Dimitri's attention. She noticed the smoky looks we exchanged and started stepping up her game, trying to be sexier while doing her training. I remembered Ginger's warning when finally, they moved on to weights.

Lifting dumbbells looked as boring as hell, and I knew for a fact that it actually was. There were only so many times a person could lift weights above their head without losing interest. Izzie, of course, was being utterly ridiculous, pressing her arms to her side whenever she let the dumbbells fall so she could make her breasts look bigger. My immediate threats when she started this were directed at Dimitri. She was an idiot. He wasn't.

Thankfully, Dimitri seemed incredibly distracted. He was obviously trying to do his job while I was subtly doing everything in my power to bring his attention back to me. I was kind of surprised nobody had noticed and taken me away already. Surely I wasn't _actually_ allowed to do this?

I sighed heavily and sat patiently on the floor, stretching – just for show of course – and immediately catching Dimitri's eye. I gave him my best smouldering smile and then promptly ignored him. Somewhere in the back of my head, I did a victory dance.

"Ow!" Izzie high pitched squeal broke the tension and I silently cursed her.

Dimitri turned back to his client hurriedly, taking the dumbbells away from her. "Are you alright?"

Izzie sat on the bench behind her and cradled her foot. "No! I think I broke my foot," she whimpered.

I smiled.

"Let me see," Dimitri pushed her hands away and started gently probing over her bones.

I ground my teeth in frustration. If this girl was just playing around I'd kill her.

"Ow!" Izzie cried, pulling her foot away. "I have a bruise there!"

Dimitri sighed and stood. "It's not broken but it is bruised. You should stay off your feet for a month or so."

"A month?!" Izzie scowled impatiently. "So when can I can I come back?"

"In a month," Dimitri explained patiently.

I smirked. What bullshit. I'd never put Dimitri down as a liar but he'd obviously had practice.

"Will you come visit me?" Izzie begged, her eyes huge.

Dimitri stilled, obviously feeling the frosty glare I was sending his way.

"Uh... Izzie, I'm not sure that would be... appropriate," he treaded carefully, not wanting this girl to become more obsessed than she already was. "But I'll see you in a month."

Izzie was pouting as Dimitri helped her hobble back to her belongings. She was obviously playing it up but Dimitri, ever patient, went along with it. It was only when they reached the door, half a room away from me that Izzie was brave enough. She reached up and planted a firm, passionate kiss on a very shocked looking Dimitri. Rage boiled over but Izzie had already sprinted out the door. Amazing for somebody who wasn't supposed to stand for a month. Enraged I stayed seated, waiting for Dimitri to return.

If she was gone, Dimitri was going to cop all of my anger, whether it was his fault or not.

"You caught that?" he asked as he sat beside me. I huffed indignantly but gave no response. It was his fault and he'd just have to be man enough to admit it. And apologise.

He poked my shoulder gently, edging closer to me.

"Roza?" there was evident humour in his voice, not at all helping with my anger management issue. "Are you okay?"

What a dumb question. Am I okay?!

"Roza," he moved his lips to my ear, attempting – and failing – to break me out of my furious silence. He paused. "You're angry."

"No shit!" I exclaimed, putting my hands on his chest and pushing him away. "Apologise!"

Dimitri looked startled. And entertained. "Alright... I'm sorry. I don't know for what..."

"Think," I hissed. "She flirted with you for an hour and a half and she just walked out the door."

"Izzie is my client," he laughed. "It's nothing more than that."

"It looked like a hell of a lot more than that!" I snapped, gesturing towards the door where the kiss had taken place.

Dimitri gave me another startled look. "Only on her part," he assured me, all traces of humour gone. "I don't care for her that way."

I fumed silently, recrossing my arms.

"I'm sorry," he sighed. I whipped around to look at him. Honesty was priceless. His chocolate eyes were sombre and apologetic. "I'm sorry you're upset and I'm sorry you're angry," he smiled. "And I'm sorry she kissed me. It was nowhere near as nice as kissing you."

I smiled as well, satisfied with his response and letting him know he was forgiven.

His smile grew and he leaned in, softly pressing his lips to mine. My heart fluttered and I wrapped my arms around his neck, locking him there. It was a sweet kiss, like the first time he'd kissed me but now I'd had a taste of the passion we were capable of having and I wanted it. It wasn't, by any means, a slow transformation. It was more like in a split second we were all over each other again, ready to take this somewhere else.

"You two do know this is a public place. A gym, to be exact. Not a private hotel room in a secluded, long forgotten country."

Reluctantly, Dimitri pulled himself about a millimetre away from me and addressed Ginger, his lips whispering against mine.

"Go away," he mumbled.

"I'm sorry, I feel I have to tell you that you can leave now," Ginger continued. My eyes were still closed as I listened to the transpiring conversation.

Dimitri pulled away from me completely and my eyes flew open in protest. "What do you mean?" he questioned suspiciously.

Ginger rolled her hazel eyes. "I mean your client just ran out the door. You've got half an hour left from her session and then you've got two hours for lunch. I'm buying."

Ginger stalked away before either of us could say another word. I was going to protest. That was the fourth time we'd been interrupted. I was having a hard time remembering a moment when we weren't stopped by some third party. I could feel a tradition in the making.

Dimitri stood, pulling me up beside him. "Ginger doesn't offer to buy food for people very often," he said as an explanation. "Can you wait here?"

"Wait here for what?" I asked, annoyed and confused.

"I've got to get changed," he smiled. "I'll be a few minutes."

"Okay," I breathed, letting go of his hand, images of Dimitri naked suddenly flitting through my head. As soon as he left I shook myself, removing the thoughts. It wasn't exactly something I wanted to think about right when I was going out to lunch with him and Ginger. It would probably end up being... distracting.

Ginger rejoined me as Dimitri disappeared.

"So you're Rose," she stated calmly.

"I thought you might have figured that out," I said, my tone bordering on sarcastic.

Ginger grinned. "I never expected Dimitri to get a girlfriend," she admitted. "He's like a crab or a snail... Never comes out of his shell."

I laughed at the analogy, wondering if there was anyone else on the planet that could compare Dimitri to a snail. "I wasn't expecting to get a boyfriend," I replied, the words feeling strange even as I thought them. Was Dimitri really _mine_ yet?

"You're new in town?" she asked, her eyebrows shooting up in surprise.

"I've been here about two months," I shrugged. "Something went wrong back home."

"What? You're a wanted criminal?" she joked.

I smiled. "I'm not sure. Probably. I honestly can't remember what happened. I was drunk at the time."

"Ah," Ginger nodded sagely. "The evils of drink?"

"It has its blessings," I defended my beloved alcohol. I'd had some great times under the influence. Unfortunately most of them were just blurry memories. One of them, however, had been a collection of bruises and somebody with a broken arm.

Ginger laughed. "That's undisputed. I've had some moments too."

I paused, trying to think about this steel like woman getting drunk and letting loose. "Yeah well, I moved here from Montana with my best friend," I explained. "We were both smashed that night. We've just decided to make an extended stay."

"How long is 'extended'?" she asked suddenly, glaring impressively at me.

"I don't know," I shrugged. "I don't even know if we'll ever leave," I smiled. "There are some good things here."

Ginger eyed me critically for a moment. "I suppose Dimitri is one of those 'good things' for you?"

I gave her a sidelong look. "The best."

There was a silence the length of a few heartbeats.

"Dimitri doesn't socialise much," she said suddenly. "And it's rare for him to even remotely like anyone. I don't know how much you want from him and honestly, I don't really care. But he's my friend. You're not."

The threat was evident. If he hurts you, it's not my problem. If you hurt him, it is.

I wasn't sure I could take down Ginger and I was sure I didn't want to try. "I get it."

"Good," she smiled at me, seemingly friendly now that she had made her standing known. "I'll give you a chance, you know. I don't hate you or anything. For all I know you might be a great gal and I'll love you."

Ginger shrugged instead of finishing whatever it was she was about to say, because I'm sure there was something else. I looked over to the changing room to see Dimitri emerging and my heart lifted a little from the dreary conversation I'd just had.

"Hey Comrade," I said lightly.

"Hey," he smiled, taking my hand.

The small gesture made my heart soar and right then I decided I didn't care what Ginger thought of me. I would do anything I could to avoid hurting this man if I had to leave so she wouldn't have any excuse to hunt me down. And if she didn't like me, so what? Dimitri liked me – obviously – and I was more than happy with that for now.

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**Ginger P.O.V**

At two fifteen that afternoon, I watched one of my close friends and his new girlfriend walk away from me and I was confused. More confused, admittedly, than I had been in my entire life. It wasn't something I liked to admit. It left me feeling out of control, almost helpless. The only thing that stopped me from barrelling after them was the fact that Dimitri, for once, looked happy and comfortable with a girl that wasn't me or one of his sisters.

I meandered back to the gym after them, absentmindedly moving my feet in the right direction. I'd thought that after my obvious threat this morning Rose would have been tripping over herself in an attempt to make me like her. It wouldn't have worked, of course, but I was still waiting for it.

Following the two down the street I noted their interlocked hands and the way Dimitri would whisper to this girl. He looked content. But how long would that last?

Rose had come across as the brazen speak-your-mind type. She was acting as though she really didn't care about my opinion and although it set my teeth on edge, I guess I would have done the same thing. She was proving her point, the same way I had proved mine. Unspoken.

"Keep up, Ginger," Dimitri laughed, calling to me over his shoulder.

I glared icily at him. "Shut your mouth, Dimtri!" I called back. "I'll get there when I get there!"

I was in a better mood than I let my tone convey, like always. There was no point to letting him know I was merely confounded by his new girl.

What was she trying for? Was she trying to insult me? Was she trying to come across as something she wasn't? Brave, good-humoured, fun and, honestly, slightly nutty? Or was she really like this? Did she really mean every word she said? She looked like she was a good liar. I'd seen the look of cloaked scepticism I saw in every liars eyes. I didn't mind that. Dimitri lied. Nada lied. I lied. We did it well. Maybe Rose did too. But there was something very genuine about the way she spoke her mind, something that sat well with me about the way she moved and every tone she used. The look in her eyes whenever she knew Dimitri was looking at her and the look she gave him in return.

I glanced worriedly at Dimitri. I was like him in a lot of ways. I didn't bother to make friends because I always believed the ones I had were good enough. I didn't want to see one of the few I was glad I'd bothered with hurt.

We got back to the gym in record time and I stood to the side as Dimitri and Rose parted. She couldn't keep hanging around here. I'd long since decided I liked her more than the bimbo's that came here just to touch Dimitri – which I honestly couldn't understand.

I overheard Dimitri's promise to see her again that night and I paused thoughtfully. I needed a different opinion. Unfortunately, the person I always asked for an opinion was slightly biased. I glared at said person and then turned away, whipping out my cell phone and calling his sister.

"Hi Ginge, what is it? You want to go shopping this afternoon?" Nada's sing song voice answered.

"Hi, Nada," I smiled, despite my dark thoughts. "No, I can't go shopping, I'm stuck at Vantage till seven tonight."

"Oh," the disappointment in her voice was evident. Nada didn't enjoy shopping, not really. She enjoyed talking more than anything and the way Dimitri lived wasn't suitable for her social life style.

"I've called about…" I hesitated, staring at Dimitri and trying to figure out if he was listening. Suddenly he leaned in and caught Rose in his arms, pulling her into a passionate kiss. I rolled my eyes dramatically and turned away. "It's about Dimitri's girlfriend."

"Rose?" Nada shocked tone surprised me.

"Yes. What do you think about her?"

"Rose?" she repeated. "I think she's… fun. If a little reluctant to play games."

"Every adult is reluctant to play children's games, Nada," I informed her. "I meant, what was her character like? How did she act?"

There was a long pause in which I could imagine Nada thinking furiously for all the right words. "She's happy and… more than a little protective of Lissa. That's her best friend," she added, just as I was about to ask. "She says what she wants and doesn't really care whether or not she should, but I think she knows when she should and when she shouldn't speak. She's evil when it comes to truth or dare," she giggled. "But I like her."

Dimitri had finally let go of a now slightly flustered looking Rose and they said their final goodbyes. "So... she's okay?"

"I think she's okay," Nada mimicked. "She's the only girl Dimitri's been interested in for... as long as I can remember!"

"Me too," I admitted, having a hard time recalling any girl Dimitri had showed serious interest in.

"And Dimitri likes her," she added, stating the obvious.

"Yeah, I noticed," I rolled my eyes and watched Rose as she was walking across the snow, turning to wave at Dimitri with a glowing smile on her face.

"No. Ginge, I think he loves her."

"Oh." _Well that changes things._

**Here's my lovely little note:**

**L's-True-Successor 23LizLoveDante CullenWithWings XxxEFreakxxX reader13lovesbooks xx99soccerz teamedwardc101 Premiumheartxx Twilighters13 Shadowkissed 4eva Woodland Wolf Krispies twilightfan077 -TWINZ- tinkerbell72 sophieyaldwyn pinoupops CometDancer mute1714 Skyler Cullen dimitri and adrian Vampire-Chick91 benfcak9**

**All of the above had added me to some sort of favourites or alert list and have never reviewed. It took me half an hour to compile this list so I think all of the aforementioned owe me just one little review. It won't take much of your time!**

**To all of you who still review put a little pressure on these guys for me, hey?**

**Thanks all!**


	26. Swiss Cheese VI

**The cure for hangovers comes from my lovely father and a bunch of wined-up friends at the latest get together.**

**Chapter 26 – Swiss Cheese VI**

_I was giggling insanely, seated on the lap of a really cute stranger when Lissa stumbled over to me, holding another glass of vodka. I knew the evils of this drink. You never thought you were getting drunk because you didn't drink so much at one time but six glasses later and you could be out like a light._

_Lissa, it appeared, had a higher tolerance than most people who had never drunk vodka before._

"_What number is this?" she asked me, leaning on the table and staring quizzically at her glass._

"_I don't know," I giggled, kissing the stranger. "Probably your..." I attempted to count it out on my fingers but I couldn't remember exactly how many she'd had. I couldn't remember how many _I'd_ had. "Twentieth," I said victoriously, trying to make her feel good about downing that much. Twenty vodka shots and basically anybody would be on the floor. Lissa wouldn't have had a chance if she'd really had that many. I eyed my empty glass on the table that used to hold alcohol. I felt like I'd had more vodka than I knew I'd consumed. I felt a headache coming on._

"_I need more Vodka," I said suddenly. Best way to fight a hangover. Get drunk._

"_More?" Lissa queried. "You've had too many... already," she steadied herself on the table again._

"_Hypoc... thing," I shot back, substituting a word that sounded intelligent through the fog._

_Lissa hmmphed then picked up my glass and attempted to walk a straight line back to the bar. I was going to call out to her but the man I was sitting on turned my to face him and kissed me, letting me taste the alcohol he'd been drinking._


	27. Calling All Stalkers

**Short chapter.**

**Lots of thanks to Moonpetal Lily for being my beta! It took a while but we finally got around to it!**

**The name of this chapter should help you figure out a few things:**

**Chapter 27 – Calling All Stalkers**

"Does red work?" Lissa asked, anxiously running out of her bedroom in a scarlet dress, pushing her platinum hair out of her eyes.

I was comfortably sitting on the couch with Adrian, not screaming at him for once.

"You look like a princess, Lissa," Adrian said, standing and bowing.

Lissa spared him an edgy smile and then turned to me. "Well?"

The small, evil part of me wanted to shrug in response but I knew I had to be patient. It didn't matter that this was the eighth dress she'd tried on. It was a special night for her.

Christian had finally decided to take her on a more formal date, as I was informed this afternoon when I'd arrived home after visiting the gym. Lissa was going crazy trying to find the perfect dress for the occasion.

"It looks good." I grinned. Lissa's forehead crumpled in worry.

"Good," she muttered, repeating my words as she hurried back to try on the next dress.

I sighed heavily and let my head fall back on the couch. It was already seven o'clock. I was supposed to meet Dimitri at quarter past and even though I knew I'd never get to the restaurant in time I was fidgeting with impatience. My attire was much less fancy than Lissa's. I'd swapped my work out clothes for my best jeans, shirt and jacket.

Adrian was watching me intently. "Where have you got to go?"

I looked at the clock then into his green eyes. "I'm meeting Dimitri later."

"Oh." There was a look of genuine hurt in his eyes as he looked away. I felt a pang of guilt. Sure, I wasn't interested in Adrian and he bugged the hell out of me but he wasn't a bad guy. And I was – I regrettably admit – becoming quite fond of my impromptu, unpredictable neighbour.

"You alright Adrian?"

He smiled at me, cloaking whatever emotion he'd let me glimpse before. "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

A silence grew between us that quickly became awkward. "Hey Adrian, I –"

"Do you want to go out tomorrow?" he interrupted.

"I – what?"

"Not on a date or anything." He spun to look at me, his eyes bright with hope and excitement. "I just want to talk with you. Please?"

I really shouldn't have. "Yeah. Why not?" But he looked almost... cute... Adorable cute that is. Kind of like Iolanthi when she really wanted something. I couldn't say no. Besides, what harm could it do?

"What about this one?" Lissa asked as she spun out from the hallway, the pink dress flaring as she moved. It suited her, complimented her pale skin and beautiful jade eyes.

"That's perfect," I confirmed quietly.

Lissa beamed excitedly. "I have to do my hair!" she suddenly gasped. "I have to go in an hour!"

She disappeared in a flurry of pale pink, leaving Adrian and I alone once again.

"Well," Adrian said as he started toward the door. "I suppose you have to go as well?"

I smiled tentatively, not really sure what Adrian was to me yet. He could still be the irritating neighbour or we could be on the verge of being friends. He held the door open for me as I passed and as soon as I was out the door, keys in hand, I felt a firm smack on my rear. I jumped around, ready to scream but the door was already closing and the last thing I saw was Adrian's smug, playful grin.

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"I know, I know, I'm late," I mumbled when I finally found Dimitri, standing outside the restaurant.

He simply raised one eyebrow and started walking away.

"Hey." I fell into step beside him. "Where are you going? I thought we were going out?"

"We are." He smiled and the instant worry I'd felt melted away.

"So where are _we_ going?" I corrected.

His smile grew. "You'll see."

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**Lissa P.O.V**

I was just touching up my hair with the crystal head band my mother used to wear on important occasions when the phone rang. I was being extremely careful with the expensive and ornate head piece, solely concentrated on not damaging or dropping it that the sudden ringing made me jump.

I smiled. Without Rose around I was always a little more jumpy. I carefully adjusted the headpiece so that it would stay in place and then ran out to the kitchen, trying to get to it before the person calling would get the answering machine.

"Hello?" I greeted, a little breathless.

"Uh, hi, is this Rosemarie Hathaway?" a male voice crackled through the receiver.

I smiled. Rose never had anyone call her and I was sure she'd be excited that somebody was finally bothered. "Sorry, she's not here right now. Can I take a message?"

"It's a little weird," the man said, his tone embarrassed. "It's probably not the kind of thing you want written down."

"Oh." I was a little disappointed until I realised it could be one of Rose's admirers and then I decided I probably didn't want to hear it anyway. "Of course. Rose should be back sometime later tonight. I think. Can I have a number to call you back? Or the name of the person who'd left the message?"

"Sorry miss," there was humour in the stranger's voice. "He said it was anonymous and I was only to call once. Perhaps another message will come along sometime soon."

"Sure." I smiled instinctively, knowing the expression was lost on the phone. "I'll tell her there was a call."

"Goodbye miss."

"Goodbye!"

I wandered back to my room, humming a pointless tune, forgetting rather quickly about the call as soon as I saw the awkward angle of my head piece.

"Shoot," I muttered as I started fiddling with it again.

**I know it's **_**really**_** short but I had to do it. For the sake of the next chapter!  
**

**Review!**


	28. Calling All Stalkers II

**Hey all! I know. Long time, no update. I am now officially laptop-less but the status is soon to change. My laptop (I mean **_**my**_** laptop) will soon be restored by the brilliant necromancers at OPC! Then I'll actually be able to write at night again!**

**Okay, chapter:**

**Chapter 28 – Calling All Stalkers II**

"Thanks." I grinned, remembering the evening.

Dimitri and I stood outside my apartment, saying goodbye. I had already opened the door but I hadn't walked in. I was reluctant to leave the night behind. Dimitri had, to my great amusement, taken me to Tapenada. The waiters seemed to remember us. Or maybe they just remembered me. All the same, they treated us like we were two times bombs with only twenty seconds left.

It had been a fun night, talking and laughing at some things that I would normally consider ridiculous. Wine and candlelight – it had shocked me at first – had gone to my head and now I was in a very good mood. I kind of felt like a character out of a book, ready to swoon into Dimitri's arms.

"You're welcome." His dark eyes sparkled with good humour. _He_ didn't seem too affected by the wine but he'd been drinking too. I sighed, leaning against the doorframe, making my dithering even more obvious.

Dimitri chuckled and moved to me, cupping my face in his hands and brushing his lips against mine. He pulled away, leaving me pouting and wanting more than just that. He laughed outright at my expression.

"What?" I asked, put out.

"It's nothing."

I stood on my toes so I could reach his lips and even then he had to bend down so I could kiss him. Even though he clearly wanted to keep it chaste – I had no idea why – I threw my arms around his neck and dragged him further down toward me.

"Roza," he murmured warningly against my lips, trying to pull away. I tightened my grip and sang victory in my head. I'm sure he could have pulled away if he _really_ wanted to but he seemed to just surrender, wrapping his arms around my waist and then snaking one of his hands up my back to tangle in my hair. He kissed me back, encouraging me to make the decision I'd been deliberating on since last night.

After a few seconds of passionate kissing I decided I really couldn't take it anymore. Burning inside I pulled him through the doorway, a fistful of his shirt clutched in my hand as I dragged him into the lounge room.

"Door," he murmured, pulling away from me. I followed him back through the entry way and he closed and locked said door. I pulled him back to me as soon as he turned around, the desire and passion flaring inside of me.

He didn't fight me at all, letting me lead him through the hall and into my room. My heart thundered in my chest when he finally just lifted me off the floor and strode to the bed. I wrapped my legs around his waist and refused to move even when he lay me down. The kissing grew in intensity, as I moved my hands to the buttons of his shirt. It was incredibly hard to focus on the simple task. Harder than it should have been. Finally I had all the buttons undone and I pushed him off me, straddling him as I ran my fingers down is toned stomach. This man was hot.

His fingers lightly brushed under the hem of my shirt, warning me before he pulled it over my head and threw it down to the floor. I was suddenly incredibly grateful I'd put on one of my black bra's this morning.

"Roza," he murmured, pulling me down to him so he could kiss me again. He kissed me in a way I'd never been kissed before, a branding kiss that told me I was his. And that he was mine. We rolled so he was once again hovering above me, supporting most of his weight and placing feather light kisses on my collarbone, tracing down to my shoulder, then further down my chest...

"Rose?"

Dimitri was off the bed in a flash, pulling me up beside him. I gave him a half-hearted smile, annoyed at the interruption but also amused. Who was I kidding? Dimitri and I were always interrupted just when it was getting hot. It's not like this time – when things were _so_ close – we would be left alone.

"Yeah?" I called, grabbing my shirt off the floor. Dimitri had already buttoned up his shirt and held the door open for me.

"Oh. You are home," she sang. I attempted to walk out the door but Dimitri snagged my waist and prevented me from taking another step.

"Yeah, only just got h-here."

Dimitri's lips were on my neck again, making more of a barrier between me and the outside world than his arms.

"I thought you would've gotten back a while ago. You won't believe what happened tonight." I knew that if I had been standing out there with Lissa, she would be glowing with happiness.

"Yeah," I managed to say weakly. I couldn't care less. Dimitri was running his hands up and down my sides and across my stomach. _Under_ my shirt.

"Christian took me to this really nice place," she informed me.

"Oh?" I don't think I could have managed words of more than one syllable, even if I had wanted to. I wondered if she heard the breathless catch in my voice. Dimitri did. He pushed my back to the wall and continued kissing my neck.

"It was beautiful," she sighed happily. "There were flowers and candles and... oh it was perfect!"

"Hmm." Dimitri's fingers were dancing along the waistband of my jeans and I suddenly wanted desperately for him to stop. Lissa wasn't going to be leaving any time soon and I was going crazy just standing here.

"What's wrong?" he asked, hot breath skittering across my skin. I had moved away from him by about an inch. There was no way I could keep standing here and pretend I was paying my full attention to Lissa. I knew he knew _exactly_ what was wrong by the amused glint in his dark eyes.

"There was music and dancing as well," she added. "I would never have thought he would go so far!"

I wondered if Lissa knew that I was thinking the exact same thing when Dimitri pressed against me, stopping any chance or thought of escape.

"Yeah," I muttered, unable to keep up any more conversation. "Dimitri," I whispered teasingly drawing his attention away from my body for just a second.

"What?" he breathed, watching me curiously.

"Kiss me?" I smiled coyly and slipped my arms around his neck.

"I thought you were talking to Lissa?" he asked. But he inched closer to me, his eyes darting down to my lips.

"She won't mind," I muttered, my eyes half closed. "Really."

He was smiling when our lips met and the kiss became playful and fun, but nowhere near the intensity we had shared on the bed. There was no plan to have sex know and I seriously doubted it would escalate with Lissa separated from us by a plaster wall. It was fun though, pleasant.

"Rose?" Lissa was standing in the hallway, staring at us in a mixture of disbelief and amusement. Reluctantly, Dimitri pulled away from me and gave Lissa a polite smile.

"Hey Liss," I said happily, pushing myself away from the wall.

"Sorry," she said dubiously, unsure as to whether or not she should disappear.

"It's alright," I lied. Dimitri chuckled, knowing full well that it was _not_ alright with me. He started walking down the hall and this time it was my turn to be reluctant. I followed him grudgingly, knowing that nothing was going to happen tonight anyway.

"Sorry," Lissa repeated softly, smiling slightly.

Dimitri turned and looked at me when he opened the door. There was a slightly wistful look in his eyes that warred with frustration and amusement.

"Bye," I spoke first, knowing that otherwise we'd be here for a while.

"Goodbye." He smiled at me and then stepped through the doorway, closing it behind him.

I sighed heavily.

"Were you..." Lissa hesitated. "Were you listening to a word I was saying?"

"Vaguely," I waved my hand flippantly. "You had a great night?"

Lissa smiled patiently. "Yes. It was beautiful. How was your night?"

There was _no_ way I'd use the word 'beautiful' to describe any kind of date. "Amusing."

Lissa gave me a puzzled look but didn't ask any questions.

"Have the beauties returned?" Adrian's irritating sing song voice interrupted our conversation, no matter how brief or unyielding.

"We're back, Adrian." I rolled my eyes as our neighbour opened the door, slamming it against the wall and swooping into the apartment. He scooped me up in his arms before I knew what was happening.

"Rose, oh my Rose!" he sang, swinging me around the room. He smelled of cigarettes and alcohol, though honestly, what else did I expect? "You return, my love!"

"Adrian I swear I will call the police," I growled, smacking his head with my hand. "Put me down!"

Adrian winced from the blow and placed me lightly on the couch. "What would you tell them?" he asked, in pain yet clearly amused by my threat.

"That drunkard is molesting me," I snapped, righting myself.

Adrian slapped a hand over his heart in his favourite melodramatic, insulted gesture. "I am not, under any circumstances, a drunkard!" he declared.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, whatever," I conceded too resigned to argue.

The phone rang, stopping Adrian from speaking and I dove for it before Lissa could answer and deny me an excuse to ignore him.

"Hello?"

"Hey," a bright male voice answered. "I'm Dylan."

"Rose," I replied shortly, confusion evident in my tone. Who the hell was Dylan?

"I have a message for you," the guy informed me, the cheer leaving his voice. "But it's not from me," he assured me. "It's from some other guy."

"Okay," I leaned against the bench, waiting for the message.

"It's... weird," Dylan laughed nervously, "but a friend asked me to do it. Y'know how that is, right? But it's not from him either. Someone paid him to do it."

"Oh." I raised my eyebrows. Someone had gone to a lot of trouble to stop me from finding out who they were. "Shoot."

"Here it is: 'I know everything. I love you. Don't worry, I'll be there soon.'"

The message, even though it was said in such a light tone, pissed me off. "I know who it's from," I snapped, taking my anger out on poor Dylan. "Thanks for the message."

I hung up the phone and turned to Adrian, more irritated than angry.

"What?" he asked innocently, leaning against the wall.

"Tell me _why_. _Why_ do you find it so impossible to walk the length of ten metres just to talk to me? _Why_ must you waste time?"

Adrian looked puzzled. "I did walk here. What, do you think I bought a car so I could drive here? Where would I park?" He looked around comically, as though expecting a garage to appear.

"Adrian," I said through gritted teeth, my patience running thin. "Don't play dumb. You left me a message?" It was, once again, expensive and pointless. Extremely Adrian.

"No," his puzzled expression threw me off guard.

"You didn't?"

"You didn't?" Lissa seemed as surprised as me as she repeated my words.

"No." He looked between the two of us. It seemed we were all a little left in the dark this time. "It was probably one of your other boyfriends."

There were so many things I wanted to tell him right then – like I only had _one_ boyfriend, if he was a boyfriend at all, that he wasn't one of them and that I didn't want him to be – but I was still a little off balance.

"That guy called earlier," Lissa said, seeming to only just recall this fact. "He didn't want to leave a message because he thought it was weird."

I completely agreed. "Well, it wouldn't have been weird, if I knew who was leaving the message."

Lissa shrugged. "I don't know," she offered as an explanation.

Adrian mimicked her shrug. "I'm just as clueless as you regarding this. Have you got any ex-boyfriends back in Montana?"

I rolled my eyes. "Adrian, I've got heaps of ex-boyfriends in Montana. Mason was one of them."

Adrian snickered. "Someone's haunting you Rosie."

As he said it an unsettling feeling made a nest in my stomach. I had a feeling it wasn't going to let up until I knew who the mysterious caller was.

**On a brighter note:**

**I'm sorry. I am very well aware that it's been a long time and its going to be an even longer time until I update again because it's almost the weekend and on the weekend I have no access to computers then.**

**I was wondering, are any of you people on ****.com****? Just an idle thought.**

**Thanks for reading, now you all have to review. I'm feeling a little unloved because – like the idiot I am – I decided to look at the reviews on the Twilight fanfictions and.... Whoa.**


	29. Locked

**The beginning of the end.**

**It unravels:**

**Chapter 29 – Locked**

It was five oh four in the afternoon. I had technically just finished having lunch with Adrian in a restaurant that literally smelled of money. You could see the dollar signs in the eyes of the waiters. It had been a pleasant day and I'd figured out that Adrian's reasons for things weren't always lecherous.

I was walking home. Adrian had other things to do this evening apparently and we had separated soon after we had left the restaurant. I was wistfully thinking of a hot bath and grudgingly acknowledging that there was only a shower in our apartment when a hidden crack in the sidewalk sent me sprawling. Cursing I rolled back to my feet. The snow had cushioned my fall but now the legs of my jeans were now soaked through. It didn't take long for snow to melt when it made contact with clothing.

"Great," I growled, wiping the clumps of snow off my waterproof jacket. I sighed and started walking again, running my fingers through my hair. Whatever snow had taken up residence there had melted.

I was only a block away from the apartment so I set to walking again, watching the path stormily as if daring it to hide any more trip hazards from me. With my newly wet clothing I was more desperate than before to have a hot shower and let the stress of the day wash away with the water. I moved quickly.

I walked, damp and cold into the lobby and headed straight for the elevator. Surely it was heated? It didn't matter anyway because the trip was short and over pretty quickly. As soon as I stepped out in to the hallway I felt like there was something I had forgotten. I stood, confused and fixed in place, trying to work my way through the events of the day.

Nothing jumped to mind so I started forward again. On the door, there was a note:

_Rose,_

_I'm spending the night with Christian and no, I'm not going just to have sex with him. There's chicken in the fridge and just because I know you'll probably want to sleep tonight, I told Adrian I was going this morning and he's looking after Iolanthi. Love,_

_Lissa_

I rolled my eyes. Typically, she'd already answered the first question I would have asked when she'd gotten home. I was still shocked that she'd been bold enough to tack the note onto the door though. Anyone could have seen it. Maybe it was Christian's snarky influence.

I sighed and patted my jacket pockets looking for my key. I froze. I patted more frantically.

"Oh no," I whispered.

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I was tapping my fingers impatiently on the front counter, staring with annoyance and boredom out into the slowly fading light.

"Here, miss," the receptionist passed me the phone. "Just go ahead and call."

I held the receiver in my hand and then paused. I would call Lissa except she didn't have a mobile and I didn't know Christian number. Or his address so I couldn't stop by. I wasn't going to ask Adrian if I could spend the night because he would undoubtedly tease me or try something. Mason and Hayley were giving up space already because Hayley's father was still visiting. I smiled. One number left. As far as I could remember, Nada and Ginger had decided to go have a 'social night' which they both had referred to as 'opposite of Dimitri night'. Nada would probably spend the entire night out. Or at least most of it.

I dialled quickly.

"Hello?" Nada answered. I got to admit, as much as I liked Nada I was a little disappointed.

"Hey Nada. I thought you were out tonight?" I said, striving to sound as though I didn't want her gone.

"Yes," she replied happily. "Ginger was late, that's all. We're just leaving." There was a short pause. "I feel bad about leaving Dimitri all alone, though. He does like company every now and then." She was using her conspiracy tone. She was an ally.

"Well, I'm not really doing anything tonight," I mused. "I might as well visit."

"Yeah, he'd probably like that. Maybe you could even make him more social. I'm coming Ginger! We'll pick you up and bring you over!"

The phone went dead. For a moment, I was confused. Then I realised I'd never been told where Dimitri lived. I grinned at the receptionist and handed her the phone again. "Thanks," I sang as I skipped out the door. I would assume it would only take Nada and Ginger fifteen minutes to get here, as it had last time. I could sit outside for that long.

Of course, fifteen minutes is a long time when you're wearing wet jeans. I thanked God that my shirt was still dry. As I sat and shivered in the winter air I thought about Dimitri's reaction to me suddenly appearing on his doorstep with an explanation as ridiculous as the one I had with me. The first thing on my list of things to do while I was over there included hijacking his shower. Immediately, my mind ran amuck with images of _not_ being interrupted.

A car horn blasted through the relative quiet and I saw Nada, grinning at from behind a car window. "Hurry!" she called. "Ginger is getting impatient!"

I grinned and ran to the car, throwing open the door to the back seat and climbing in behind my co-conspirator. "Thanks," I said when I closed the door. I wasn't sure who I was thanking. Ginger smiled at me which I took as a good sign.

"_Anything_ to convince Dimitri that having a social night is a good idea." Nada crossed her arms on her chest and looked back at me. "What happened to you? Did you get caught in a snow drift?"

I looked down at my pants and was about to correct her but decided getting caught in a snow drift was a mite cooler than tripping and landing face first in snow. "Yeah." I shrugged. "Something like that."

Nada smiled. "This place has good snowfall," she commented, staring out the window. "But not as good as home." She sighed wistfully. "You know, Dimitri is the eldest but Viktoriya always took charge when we were little. She used to make up the rules for the snow fights and everything and Dimitri and I would just go along with it. Dimitri said it was easier just to let her have it her way."

I assumed Viktoriya was Dimitri's other sister, a twenty two year old that still lived in Russia. "Are you going back?" I asked, a little sadly. Nada was a nice girl and fun to be around. She was very different from Dimitri and she sounded more like Viktoriya.

"To Russia?" She sighed again. "Yes. Being in America is okay but I miss home."

A chill ran through me. "Will Dimitri leave too?"

Nada looked back at me and attempted a smile. "I don't know."

The cold inside me had nothing to do with the snow and we drove the rest of the way in an odd silence.

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I waved goodbye to Nada and Ginger as they drove away and disappeared around the bend. My legs felt as though I'd fallen through a glacier and I stood, shivering on Dimitri's doorstep.

I raised a hand and knocked softly. Technically he lived in an apartment but it resembled a house more than anything else. Dimitri must have been close by or passing the door because he answered in a matter of seconds, his expression puzzled. It cleared when he saw me standing there.

"Hey." I grinned and hugged myself tighter, trying to ward of the cold.

He smiled in return and let me through the door. "Nada."

"Yup," I answered his unspoken question. As I walked through the door I peered around curiously. It was warm inside and it smelled great. I spun around, asking the most immediate question. "Can I use your shower?"

He paused and gave me a quizzical look. "I guess."

I gave him my best thankful smile. "I fell in snow," I motioned to my jeans, soaked through and clingy. He looked at my legs long enough to make me smile then looked back up at me briefly.

"Bathroom is that way," he gestured towards the kitchen where the great smell seemed to be coming from. "I'll bring you a towel."

I was glowing as I practically skipped through the kitchen on my right and halted in front of the stove. It seemed to be some sort of spiced stew. I inhaled and then continued on my way. The bathroom wasn't hard to find and it was bigger than the one in my apartment with the added asset of a bath. I sighed wistfully but avoided the bath. I turned the water on for the shower and let it heat up, moving away to inspect myself in the mirror. Other than _looking_ as though I'd tripped and landed in a drift there were no dirt smudges.

I ran to the door when Dimitri rapped softly on it and took the towel from him singing thankyous. He told me where I might find the drier and then left. I'd half-hoped he would have stayed.

I stripped off, wrapped the towel around me and stuck all of my clothes in the drier. It was a simple machine so I didn't have to call for help and then I returned to the bathroom. The water was hot and after I'd adjusted the temperature I stepped under the warm water and forgot all about the snow.

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I walked back through the house, still wrapped in a towel. The drier hadn't yet surrendered my clothing and I figured nothing terrible was going to happen anyway. Dimitri was standing at the stove, leaning over the stew with a worried expression.

"I didn't know you could cook," I said as I inhaled the rich scent again.

He looked up at me and froze for the count of two. Then he turned back to the stove. "I grew up in a family of three women." He smiled tolerantly. "They all liked to cook."

I grinned, more charmed by him than before, if that was at all possible. I jumped up onto the nearest bench, sitting comfortably near the edge.

"It won't be done for another hour or so." He shrugged and turned away, leaning against the bench and watching me.

I tried to hide my smile as I glanced around surreptitiously, looking for intruders. "So are you expecting company?" I whispered.

"No more than I already have," he replied with an easy smile. He was just so nice looking. I could look at him all day. _Or night_, I corrected. But for once we were alone and interruptions seemed like something of the past. Maybe it was moving too fast. But I liked it. It was me.

Dimitri seemed to know that. But then, he seemed to know most of my main traits. He stepped up to me, resting his hand just above my knee and kissed me sweetly. We had an hour. _Or so_.

It was while he was kissing me, so nicely, that I realised something. Even past the physical attraction I really liked Dimitri. I_ really_ liked Dimitri. I liked being near him, I liked the way he always seemed so solid. I liked the way he looked at me, the way he touched me and the way he spoke with his faint, sexy Russian accent. I liked his quiet passion for the things that he did and his calm brown eyes. I liked how he made me feel as well. I just liked everything about him. It didn't feel as though I'd only known him for a month, it felt like I'd known him for a year.

He pulled me further to the edge of the bench when his lips left mine and he looked at me in that sweet way that made my heart flutter. It wasn't really a moment for words because I doubt the puddle of mush I had become could converse with any sort of clarity. We just kissed again.

I was kind of blissed out in that moment and the next few minutes passed in a slow motion blur. His kisses were still sweet but now tinged with that desperate passion that neither of us had been able to relieve. Cold showers could only do so much for so long. I didn't know the way around this place so I let Dimitri lead me, focusing solely on him and how good his lips tasted.

I couldn't help the kind of victorious smile I felt creeping across my face when we fell back on the bed and I realised that this was probably the best place for us to be together. It seemed unlikely that anyone knew where Dimitri lived.

Everything faded into the background when he stopped kissing me for a moment and just looked at me. Then he put his lips next to my ear. "I love you," he breathed.

My heart may have stopped but I was too distracted to notice. Most of me was wholly consumed by that idea. He loved me. Then there was a small part of me, which was growing quickly, that just wanted him naked, now.

He was looking at me imploringly and for a moment, my stunned mind wondered what he was hoping I would do. _Oh_.

"And I love you," I whispered back. I'd never thought I'd say the words with such conviction but they didn't feel fake as they passed my lips. I smiled slyly. "But now it's payback time."

He cocked his head to one side.

"Remember when we met?" I ventured. I think it was a bit hard for either of us to forget, especially considering my towel was barely staying on my body right now.

"Yes," he answered slowly. Obviously his attention was wandering as he stared intently at my lips.

I manoeuvred under him until I had escaped the cage of his arms and knelt on his bed. "I want payback."

I think it may have dawned on him then, what I wanted. He'd seen me – accidently – naked that day. There was no way I was leaving here without the debt owed. Actually, I was hoping I wouldn't have to leave at all. If his actions were anything to go by he wanted me to stay too.

He knelt beside me and kissed my neck. "Oh," he whispered against my skin. He locked his long fingers around my wrists and kept kissing me.

I lost all will to stop him – if I had ever had any – and let my head fall back. One of his hands left my wrist and snaked into my hair. Then he moved away from me. Just barely, but enough for me to want him back. I would have protested except I realised he was complying with my demands. He was still on the bed with me, kneeling about a foot away and his shirt was already gone. Being the first time I'd seen him completely without a shirt I ogled discreetly. Before he could go any further I dropped the damn towel and edged over to him. His eyes seemed to darken as I smiled coyly up at him.

"Can I help?" I asked, trying to sound innocent. It was considerably difficult considering I felt more out of control than I ever had in my entire life. And I'd been pretty out of control.

He smiled tightly in answer. He may have seemed calmer than me outside but here there were no walls and no defences. Everything he was feeling showed clearly in his eyes and I really liked what I was seeing. I let my hands trail down his chest and stop on the top of his jeans. His eyes were locked with mine as I slowly unbuttoned his pants. And then the phone rang. There was a brief pause. More ringing.

"You know, I think God is objecting," I said in the most conversational tone I could manage. He laughed.

"Ignore it. It's probably Nada." He looked at the phone at the bedside quickly then shrugged. "She'll manage."

I think he could tell I wasn't going to continue undressing him so he finished kicking off his pants on his own. I had to admit, that was a little disappointing. But it distracted me. He tilted my head up and brushed my hair out of my face. The phone faded into the background, just like everything else. He kissed me wildly, conveying all of those out of control emotions that had built up between us. I kissed him back, enjoying the abandoned activity. His hands started to wander and I found myself thoroughly enjoying the idea of ignoring everything else and staying here for a week. He wasn't trying to be gentle but he didn't hurt me as he ran his hands all over me. He eventually pushed me down under him and returned his full attention to my neck.

The phone must have silenced because I noticed it when it started ringing again.

Dimitri growled some Russian swear words and rolled away from me, answering the phone calmly. It surprised me how he could sound so in control as he spoke to whoever was one the other end. His expression went from annoyed to surprised in the first few seconds. He handed the phone to me.

"Hello?" I said, puzzled. Who on earth knew I was here and wanted to talk to me?

"Hey Rose," Lissa replied. I sighed with impatience.

"What is it?" I tried not to blunt but it was a failed attempt. "I thought you were at Christian's? Why are you calling?"

"Um," Lissa squeaked. "Well, I kind of came home because I'd forgotten to tell Adrian that Iolanthi likes to sleep cuddled up against you and when I got here... There was someone waiting."

I sighed again and ran a hand through my hair. The first thing I thought was how typical it was of Lissa to run home from a date simply to warn someone of a kittens bad habits. "Who was it?" I asked, resigned.

"Well..." she hesitated. I could just see Lissa, twisting nervously on the other end of the line. "I think you should come home Rose. I _really_ think you should come home. Please? I need help. And... I don't know how to deal with this."

"But –"

The phone went dead and I pulled it away from my ear in confusion. I looked at Dimitri, who was now standing beside the bed completely dressed once again. I sighed. There was no avoiding a trip home.

"Well?" he asked, taking the phone and putting it back on its stand. I grabbed the towel and wrapped it around myself, sliding off the bed.

"She said please," I grumbled, walking from the room. If Lissa needed my help I had to go back. "Apparently there's someone waiting for me."

"Oh." He paused. "I'll drive you back."

I smiled gratefully at him and then found my way back to the laundry and consequently the drier. My clothes were done and apparently had been for the past few minutes. I got dressed as quickly as I could and then joined Dimitri at his front door.

The drive was quiet and much faster than I remembered. It seemed like only five minutes and then we were pulling up outside the apartment block. I sighed wistfully before I got out. Spending time with Dimitri was nice, easy. I didn't want to leave.

"I'll see you tomorrow," he offered as incentive. It wasn't much of an incentive. I knew I had to get out though. I could never deny Lissa the help she wanted.

"When?" I asked, turning to him imploringly.

He shrugged. "I'll come straight after I get off work."

I smiled ecstatically and jumped out of the car, into the darkness. "Okay, tomorrow then!"

He smiled back and waved. I had a single regret as he drove away and it was the fact that I hadn't kissed him before he left. I shrugged it off and then ran through the lobby, taking the stairs instead of the elevator because my energy level was too high to simply stand around.

I had bounded up to the sixth floor in record time when the full gravity of the situation hit me. Lissa had called for help. There was obviously something on the other side of this door that she couldn't deal with.

Warily, I placed my hand on the knob and slowly opened the door.

I walked over to threshold and noticed two people sitting on the couch, one being Lissa and the other...

My blood ran cold. As the second person turned to face me, I almost turned around and walked right back out again.

**I realise it's late. It's the best I can do. I'm pressed for time and I have to go _right_ now. Hope you enjoyed!**

.


	30. The Final Swiss Cheese

**This is NOT the final chapter. Just thought I'd warn you. This one was easy to write and I wasn't away sick without access to computers.**

**Oh, yeah. The OPC guys can't fix my laptop. Turns out the motherboard is dead as well. So I'm getting a new laptop. I hope. My parents think I don't need one. Apparently I can't impress upon them the importance of my writing. Although, my mother continuously tells me that she would like me to become rich and then keep her living in the style of which she would like to become accustomed. In those exact words. I tell her that I need a laptop to write. She tells me I'm spoiled. I tell her writing is important. She tells me that when I'm a rich, best-selling author I can buy one. I tell her I need a laptop to write. It goes on.**

**I think she's being rather optimistic about my writing capability. On here, I'm okay. But book terms? I'm ameteur.**

**But anywho, this is about Rose and Lissa and what they did on the Vodka Night so:**

**Chapter 30 – The Final Swiss Cheese**

In one startling moment it all came back to me. Sure, the drunkenness fuzzed things up a little bit but seeing _that_ person standing there… I remembered.

_We were standing inside the club and Lissa was holding my drink for me. The cute stranger had left and I was, to say the least, a little disappointed. I was fiddling with my phone, the numbers on my keypad woozily moving about as I tried to... well, I'd forgotten exactly what it was I was trying to do. Eventually I gave up._

_I took my drink back of Lissa and gulped it down._

"_Now what am I supposed to do for fun?" I complained. "My entertainment left." I gestured to the door that the cute guy had stumbled out of._

_Lissa shrugged. "You could always drink more," she suggested._

_I laughed. "Right you are, Liss. Right you are."_

_Together we hobbled back over to the bar. A few guys grabbed at us and called out but knowing that they were just as drunk as we were took a bit out of the flattery._

"_More vodka," I called happily when the bartender asked us what it would be._

_He gave me a disapproving look. "I really think you've had too much already."_

_I gave him my best innocent/surprise look. _Typical_, I thought._ We get the only bartender in America who won't give drunken girls more alcohol._ "Aw please?" I tried, giving him my best smile._

_He smiled in return. "No. Go home Rose."_

_I started. I knew this guy? Maybe I'd flirted with him before. Or in a previous life or... something like that. Or maybe I just came to this club too often._

_Lissa tugged my arm and we headed back to the table we had been sitting at all night. There was one guy, sitting alone at _our_ table, throwing down a glass of indistinguishable alcohol like there was no tomorrow._

"_Hey," I sat down next to him, my previously sour mood lifting considerably._

"_Hi," he muttered bitterly._

_A brilliant, mind boggling idea sprang into action. I edged over to him. "What are you doing here alone?" I asked, staring at him in that affectionate way. "Is your girlfriend around?"_

"_No, actually." He obviously hadn't been drinking for long because he sounded sober. Or maybe I was just too drunk to notice. "She dumped me yesterday. She's over there, with that guy."_

_He pointed with his half empty glass to where a red-headed girl was dancing with a young blonde guy. I smiled. How perfect._

"_You want revenge?" I asked, putting my hand lightly on his shoulder._

_He looked at me, startled by my obvious advances. "Uh... Yeah?"_

_I put on my man-eating smile. "I need payment but I'll get your revenge."_

_He looked speculatively at the girl and her dance partner. "What is it?"_

"_Vodka," I said confidently. "Or any other form of straight alcohol."_

_He shrugged. "Sure." He stood and walked away. I smiled._

"_What are you doing?" Lissa asked._

_I looked at her incredulously. I couldn't believe she didn't know already. "I'm getting revenge. That guy looks so down and all, the better part of me just had to help."_

_Lissa rolled her eyes and giggled when she looked at my serious expression._

_I stood, walking over to where the two stood. "Hey there," I called over the music. Both partners stopped to stare at me. They were drunk. Not drunk like me and Lissa but they weren't sober like... crap, I didn't get his name._

_The girl was looking at me suspiciously. The guy was just staring at my outfit. I was glad I had donned my sluttiest top and the shortest skirt I could find. It would be an advantage in this situation._

_I felt like saying 'can I cut in?' but changed my mind at the last second. _Soooooo_ male._

_It turned out I didn't need any words because the next thing the guy's eyes focused on was my chest._

"_How dare you?!" I screeched. And I screeched pretty loud. I mean, it didn't feel loud but everyone within ten metres turned to look at us. And believe me, a lot of people can fit into ten square metres. I reached up and slapped the blonde then stormed off._

_The girl, standing next to her partner looked from me to her guy. Then she reached up and slapped him as well. It was the only course of action, really. Everybody was watching and if she started dancing with him again she would be implicated as well._

_The stranger had returned to our table and had four glasses of vodka. He was looking at the scene with barely contained mirth in his eyes. He winked at his ex as she stormed past him. His mood seemed significantly improved._

"_Thanks," I gasped as I lunged for the vodka._

"_Yeah, sure," he chuckled. Liss simply watched me down three glasses before taking the fourth for herself. The stranger disappeared. The boredom returned. Sure, we were drunk and we were out and nothing in the world was better than that, but... there was something missing._

_I pulled my phone out of my pocket again. There were two missed calls. I didn't recognise the number._

"_Hey Liss," I called over the music. "I need to go outside."_

"_Okay."_

_She followed me out the door of the club and into the dark street. The music was still audible but it was much quieter than inside._

"_Do you know this number?" I asked, showing her the phone screen._

_She looked at it for moment then shook her head. "No, I don't think so. It looks a little familiar though..."_

_I nodded and brought the phone back to me. I think it took me about five minutes before I gasped in shock. "Hey, I know who this is!"_

"_Who?"_

_I leaned in and whispered the identity of the caller in her ear, as though afraid someone was listening._

_Lissa giggled when she heard who it was. "Of course! I should have known that."_

"_Let's call back," I said grinning insanely._

"_It's only polite," Lissa reasoned._

"_And we should share that _vital_ information, hey?"_

_Lissa looked confused for a moment. The her expression cleared. "Yes, the _vital_ information."_

_I was so glad Lissa was drunk. She wouldn't have let me do this otherwise._

_I clicked the call button and put the phone to my ear. It took only two rings before somebody answered._

"_Hello?" The voice was cold and sharp, just the way I remembered._

_I knew I couldn't let this_ person_ speak. I had to get the 'vital' information out and then hang up before the questions were asked. I racked my brain for some shocking news. I alighted on the perfect one._

"_Hey mom! I'm pregnant!"_


	31. House Arrest

**I just finished Blood Promise. Predictable, as usual but still good. I don't think there was one plot twist I didn't see coming. Some bits bothered me (and they think Stephenie Meyer overdoes things when it comes to powers) but other than a few twists that were **_**completely**_** unrealistic it was good. Somewhat better written then the other three books. And what a brilliant ending... Well, brilliant depending on your point of view.**

**"The difference between **_fiction_** and reality? **_Fiction has to make sense_**." – Tom Clancy**

**Anywho, story:**

**Chapter 31 – House Arrest**

"Rosemarie don't you dare walk out that door!"

I winced. Plan A. Foiled.

"Hey mom," I attempted to sound cheerful. It wasn't working. I was sure that the dread I felt had seeped into my words. Surely she hadn't taken any of that 'information' to heart? She couldn't believe it, could she? The fact that she was here answered that question. Yes. Yes she could. She had hunted down Lissa and me.

Well, at least I knew where the phone call had come from. Looking at the phone drew my eye to the clock. It was ten to seven.

Janine Hathaway glared at me, the ice in her eyes almost impossibly cold. I tried to smile. Fail. Suddenly, her expression softened. She looked weary and, in a twisted way, kind.

"What have you done now, Rose?"

"I – hey!" I realised I'd just been insulted then pressed on. "I haven't done anything!"

"You're pregnant," she replied, deadpan. "You've obviously been doing something."

From Lissa's reaction I knew she'd figured out what we'd done that night. She bowed her head to hide her quick smile.

"I'm not pregnant mom," I replied, looking nervously at Lissa. She looked as though she were going to suffer some sort of mental breakdown.

Janine gave me a withering what-kind-of-idiot-do-you-think-I-am look. "Rose, I know the truth. You might as well stop lying. How long have you been here? A year?"

I thought it was kind of sad that my mother didn't know where I had lived for the past year. I clenched my teeth at the injustice of having such a bitch for a mother. "No," I replied with biting sarcasm. "We travelled Europe for the last two years, Lissa got married, went crazy and I started seeing ghosts. We only got here yesterday."

My mother returned to her usual stony self. "I knew it. You moved here and you fell pregnant. Why, Rose? Why can't you just keep yourself out of trouble for more than a day?"

"Hey, if you recall, I've been here for a year," I snapped back. It probably wasn't smart, encouraging her delusion but I was angry.

"You could have told me you were moving!" she bristled. "It's common courtesy."

"You could have told me my father died!" I wasn't really sure if he was dead but the fact was I didn't know what kind of status he was holding right now. I didn't even know his name.

Janine winced a little but recovered fast. "Well it doesn't matter. You're coming back to Montana. Now."

"What?! No!"

"I don't recall giving you another option," she replied through gritted teeth. I was outraged. I looked to Lissa for help.

"Um…" was all the assistance she offered.

"I'm _not_ leaving," I retorted. I marched to the couch and threw myself onto it, stressing my words.

"Rosemarie, if you don't –"

There was a hesitant knock on the door.

"I'll get it," Lissa squeaked, intimidated by our argument. She ran to the door and yanked it open, revealing a tousled, wide-eyed and frantic looking Adrian, clutching a yowling kitten.

"I'm sorry Lissa," he apologised, handing Iolanthi over. "I just – I heard you from next door and I – well… I thought I'd just, you know… Bring her…back."

Lissa gave the frantic looking Adrian a warm smile. I was too busy staring at Iolanthi. She looked odd, for some reason. Lissa put her on the floor. "That's okay. I think Rose and I are… staying here tonight."

"Yes," my mother asserted. "They are." She stormed over to the door and grabbed Adrian's arm, effectively dragging him into the middle of our 'disagreement'. "Who are you?"

I was watching Iolanthi walk away with a curious gaze. Was it just me or was she walking funny? When I looked back up Adrian gave me a who-is-this-crazy-bitch-and-why-is-she-here look. I rolled my eyes in response.

"I'm Adrian Ivashkov, ma'am," he replied, giving her a charming smile. I could have told him it would have no effect but watching my mother lean in to scrutinise him was too good an opportunity to pass up.

"You drink, Ivashkov?" she asked briskly. I didn't blame her for asking the question. I could smell the alcohol from here. If he'd bathed in it the smell couldn't have been any stronger.

"Just a little ma'am."

"You smoke?"

Adrian shrugged modestly. "Sometimes. We all have our vices."

Janine turned to me, rage and disgust plain on her face. "_He_ is the father?" she asked me, incredulous.

"God no!" I flew from the couch and started pushing Adrian to the door.

"Don't lie to me!"

I growled an indistinguishable swear word under my breath and gave one last heave, pushing Adrian past the shocked Lissa and into the hallway.

"Nice to meet you, Rose's mom!" Adrian called as I slammed the door. I could only imagine how he had arrived at the correct conclusion. There was no way I was going to ask.

"Rose," my mother rounded on me. "If you –"

Another knock. I wasn't sure if it was a blessing or a curse. Maybe it would be better if I just let her air whatever she wanted to tell me and then kick her homeless ass out of my apartment.

Lissa meekly opened the door again and there stood a very confused Christian. I guessed he had driven Lissa over and had been waiting in the car for the past half hour.

"Why is Ivashkov out here laughing himself stupid?" he quizzed. "And why are his hands covered in bandaids?"

"He was just interrogated," I replied flatly. "And you know how he is with unusual situations. I didn't notice the bandaids though."

"He went and got high," Christian replied drily. "I get it."

I buried my face in my hands for a moment. My mother was under the impression I had fallen pregnant to my drunk, cigarette smoking, drug abusing next door neighbour and I knew she wouldn't hear otherwise.

"I found this outside," he said, jerking his thumb over his shoulder. Jesse appeared.

"Hey Rose," he smiled his most attractive smile. I was indifferent.

"Hey Jesse."

"You're sleeping with those ones too?" Janine screeched. She flew to the door.

"No!" I yelled, lunging forward. I pushed Christian back outside and slammed the door. "Liss and I are having a nice night in with my mother. Call back later!"

There was silence from outside. Then hysterical laughter. I groaned. Not only did my mother think I had moved to Pierre and become a whore but now the guys knew about it too.

I sauntered back to the couch and sat down with as much composure as I could muster. "You were saying?"

Janine looked too furious for words. "How…" was all she managed.

"How what? I'm not sleeping with them and I'm not pregnant."

She frowned at me. "Fine," she sighed. "We'll do this your way. We won't say another word about this until tomorrow. I'll sleep on the couch."

I exhaled heavily while Lissa meekly ran away to fetch some blankets from the hallway cupboard. There was no way a guest would be uncomfortable in _her_ home. Not even if said guest was a bitchy mother that wouldn't listen to a word her child uttered.

I realised I had been left alone with my estranged mother and suddenly, the silence got awkward. Without something to argue about we were at a loss for conversation.

"How have you been?" I asked, listening to Lissa fumble in the hallway.

"Alright," she replied, sitting on the extreme edge of my couch. "You?"

I shrugged. Lissa returned to the lounge and handed over the blankets. "I'm sorry we don't have a guest room," she said anxiously, hovering over my mother. "Are you hungry?"

"I am." I played with a strand of my hair.

Lissa beamed, happy to have something to do that didn't require sitting still and listening to my mom and I argue. She bustled into the kitchen and I leaned back in my seat. It didn't matter that we weren't supposed to talk about me being pregnant. We were in for a long and loud night of bickering.

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"Hello?" I opened the door, sleepily. I had just rolled out of bed. I wasn't sure what time it was but I knew I'd stayed up way too late to be awake this early.

"Are you alright Rose?" Dimitri asked, stepping over the threshold. He looked anxious.

"Um... yeah, I think so." I wondered why he'd asked. Was I covered in bruises or something? Had my mother tried to beat me to death during the night?

"I called you," he explained shortly. "You look tired."

"I am tired," I grumbled. I spun around to look at the clock. It was almost eleven thirty. "Wow."

"You're not alright, are you?"

I turned around and smiled at him as my blurry vision cleared. "I think I'm alright I just have a small problem with my –"

"Who is _he_?" a cold, brittle voice demanded. I winced.

"Mom." I nodded in acknowledgement. "This is Dimitri. Dimitri, this is my mother, Janine Hathaway."

Dimitri was surprised but he hid it well. "Hello."

"Hmmph," my mother replied. I was hoping that she wouldn't be awake but she was already dressed and the blanket she had used was folded. She had just come in through the hallway and her hair was damp so it didn't take a genius to figure out she'd just had a shower.

"I'll go get changed, wait for me," I whispered to Dimitri. I had taken two steps away from him when I decided to walk back and continue whispering. "Be careful, she's like a bomb with a short fuse."

I shot back to my room and changed as quickly as I could. I didn't dare leave my mother alone with Dimitri for too long.

When I returned to the lounge Dimitri and Janine were in a kind of standoff. Mom was giving him her infamous glare/stare look. It was an odd mixture of interrogation and intimidation. Dimitri was standing quite calmly and waiting for me to return.

"By mom, I'm going out!" I said with a hint of chagrin as I grabbed Dimitri's hand and made a dash for the door.

We were about a full eighteen inches past the door when something snagged the back of my shirt and stopped me from going any further.

"What?" Janine demanded calmly. "You're not going anywhere."

I groaned. "Mom, I left home like, four years ago."

Janine glared daggers. "I don't care. Until you tell me _exactly_ what happened you are staying inside _this_ very apartment."

I hated it when she went all 'mothers responsibility' on me. "What?! You mean I'm under house arrest?"

"Yes." She glared at me icily. I was dumbfounded.

"But it's my apartment!" I protested. I couldn't believe she'd turned up here and made my life so miserable so fast. I mean, yesterday I was getting hot and heavy with Dimitri and today my mother put a leash on me like I was some sort of idiotic fifteen year old.

What was worse was the fact that Dimitri was witnessing it.

I was too angry for words in that brief moment where she glared steadily at me. I looked back up at Dimitri and I'm sure my anger showed. He gave me a small smile and released my hand, stepping away from the soon-to-be explosive argument. I sighed. He was only trying to resolve this peacefully.

"I'll call you," he reassured me.

"Alright," I sighed. "I'll wait."

As soon as Janine had dragged me back into the apartment she closed the door. The last thing I saw was Dimitri giving me a puzzled look. I could only imagine what he thought had just happened.

I turned around to face my mother. "I hate you," I spat. Then I stormed away, leaving her standing there, staring after me with indifferent eyes. I'd said those words too many times for them to hold much impact anymore but it still made me feel better.

I slammed the door to my room and flopped onto my bed before I realised I was acting exactly like a moody teenager. _Well, she's treating me like one_, I hissed venomously to myself. _If she wants to make this difficult, we can make this difficult_.

And that was when I had an idea that brightened my day considerably.


	32. Jail Break

**And I returneth. I know I haven't updated for like, a month. I'm sorry. I just had a lot of stuff to do. I still do. You see, I got a new computer and I named him Eeyore. He's small and white and cute and I absolutely love him to death. Only, my memory key (USB) had major viruses on it and when I plugged it into Eeyore he crashed. I only just got him up and running again and now I've got four overdue assignments. My mum has decided that I need to get better grades or she's not moving me to the school I want to attend next year.**

**I'm kind of freaking out. So I probably won't be updating for a while. Again. But not nearly as long as this time. I had plenty of opportunities to write this time but... My book is kind of in the way and my main character has been a real p***k and he's pissing me off no end. Then of course, there was the Social, my friendship problems and a whole lot of other crap. ANYWAY!**

**The story:**

**Chapter 32 – Prison Break**

It was when I heard the drunken singing that I knew the plan had gone off without a hitch. It wasn't because Adrian _actually_ sounded drunk. It was because of the second voice that sung along. A female voice with a Russian accent. She also sounded drunk.

It was perfect.

My mom looked up from her conversation with Lissa and looked toward the door, her eyes narrowing. The singing was getting gradually closer to our front door. I hid my smirk behind a book I was supposedly reading and shrunk back into my seat. I really had no idea how Adrian wanted to do this. I had only given him vague directions such as 'Tell Dimitri what's going on' (as embarrassing as it was, he had to know), 'Get Nada' and 'Distract my mother'.

"Twenty six bottle of beer on the wall!" Adrian crowed. I wondered idly how long it had taken Nada to get the hang of this song. "Yoo-hoo!"

There was a rapid pounding on the door. My mom frowned at the piece of wood that was our front door then slowly stood and made her way across the room. My smirk became more pronounced as the door opened and Adrian and Nada stood outside the door, grinning insanely and leaning heavily on anything that wasn't mobile.

"Hey, sexy," Adrian said in his seductive voice. I stifled my hysterical giggles immediately.

"You're such a flirt," Nada laughed, skipping through the door happily. "Hi!" she added as she passed my mother.

Lissa was sitting on the couch, Iolanthi in her lap, staring with shock at the unfolding scene.

"What are you doing?" my mom demanded as Adrian pulled her into the hallway. I winced into the pages of my book as he did so. He was going to die a slow painful death. Nada gave up her drunk act while my mom was distracted and jumped onto the couch beside Lissa.

"Ooh what a pretty necklace!" she gushed, carefully brushing her fingers across the delicate chain around Lissa's neck. It was a heart pendant that I had bought Lissa when we were sixteen. I personally thought it was a great necklace so I puffed up with pride whenever it was complimented.

"Ow!" Adrian was rubbing the back of his hand where my mother had obviously hit him. There was a colossal screaming match going on out there. Adrian was trying to flirt, unsuccessfully and my mom was trying to tell him to get lost. They were both trying to speak over the other and I knew that when she got back in here, my mom would be at my throat all over again.

"Dimitri is downstairs with the getaway car," Nada whispered conspiratorially. "Get going!"

I laughed at the idea of a getaway car then took advantage of the moment of mayhem. Truly, Adrian was a genius. I darted to the door and signalled frantically for more of a distraction.

"Oh my God!" he screamed, pointing to his apartment door. "Thief!"

I rolled my eyes at the unoriginality of the stunt but my mom looked. That was all I needed. As I sprinted past Adrian into the stairwell I caught a whiff of strong alcohol. Obviously Adrian wasn't acting drunk like Nada was.

I prayed like all hell that Adrian could keep my mother distracted until I was in the car with Dimitri.

When I burst into the lobby, a startled couple had to jump out of my way as they loitered in the centre of the room.

"Sorrygottahotdatewaiting," I apologised, shooting past them.

As soon as I was outside I gulped in a deep lungful of the afternoon air. _Freedom!_

"Roza!" Dimitri caught my waist as I tried to run past him.

"Oh, hey," I breathed, stopping my escape attempt. "Just got out. Can we go?"

Dimitri laughed. I wasn't really sure why. Maybe it was because I was still breathing heavily after running down six flights of stairs, or because I could only use words of one syllable or maybe because the entire situation was completely ridiculous.

He complied anyway, helping me into the car and the peeling away from the kerb at a speed that was unsuitable for these backstreets. I think I was hysterical because I couldn't sit still. As Dimitri drove I fidgeted nervously with my seatbelt and my seat. I wasn't sure where we were going but it was taking too long. I wanted to get out of the car and keep running.

Dimitri seemed to notice my restlessness after twenty seconds and he kept shotting me sideways glances. It seemed like forever – although it was probably only two minutes – when he pulled over and got out of the car.

I stumbled out of the passenger seat and stood with him on the sidewalk, looking out At the snow covered park.

"Was this where you were taking me?" I asked, still shifting from foot to foot.

"No. I wasn't really taking you anywhere," he shrugged and looked at me. "Do you want to walk?"

The question was unnecessary. I wanted to do something that involved to outdoors and I wanted to be close to him. Walking was perfect. "Sure."

We started off through the park. It looked a lot different in daylight and I found myself trying to mark out the ground we had covered when we had staged the snowball fight. There were certain groves of trees that looked familiar but the park was huge. And most of the landmarks we had gone by that night were particular clumps of snow that had now been demolished.

We walked in silence across the snowy ground and just as I started wishing I had grabbed a coat, Dimitri dropped his long brown duster on my shoulders. I looked up at him but he didn't say anything. He just kept moving.

We walked past families that were still enjoying the snow and dodged the children that were playing with the cold powder. One family had their dog out. It was huge and shaggy and as we walked past it rolled in the snow. I winced instinctively, thinking about how cold that dog would be in half an hour.

Altogether, the park was busy but it was calm. Or it seemed that way to me. Some parents looked like they'd never been so hassled in their entire life. I was calm.

It was that strange kind of peace that I got when I was having an ideal moment with Dimitri. Like the world didn't matter and even though I knew I should be worrying about what I would be saying to my mom when I got home, I didn't care. As we walked our hands intertwined and I felt like I was radiating happiness. I knew Dimitri had the same feeling, like we were perfect.

We walked like that for a long time. It was almost dark when we finally stopped. Dimitri paused beside me while I was mid stride. When I noticed he was no longer beside me I tugged on his hand to keep him walking. He shook his head and smiled, walking to one of the benches that were littered around the place. He swept off the snow and we both sat down, watching the sunset.

Yeah, it was corny. Yeah, it was laughable. But it was really nice. I remembered all the times I'd scorned at the idea of finding someone I could sit in silence with and do the most soppy, romantic things with. Somewhere in the back of my head I started teasing that stupid girl. What did she know? She wasn't in love.

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When I woke up the next morning the first thing I registered was Dimitri's arms wrapped around me. His lips were at my neck, kissing me softly to wake me up. The second thing I registered was his scent, sharp and strong like he'd already been up.

Then I realised I would have to open my eyes if I wanted him to keep kissing me.

"Ah!" I yelped. The sunlight was streaming through the window, like it did every morning. _Hang on, my window isn't next to the door_...

And then I knew that I wasn't at the apartment, I was in Dimitri's bed. Quickly I checked my clothing status. Clothes were all there. Damn. I was wearing my pyjamas. I leaned back on the bed, listening to Dimitri chuckle and I closed my eyes again. I remembered Nada returning last night and bringing with her a bag of clothes and my toiletries. After thanking her profusely I went and changed. Unfortunately, Nada informed us that she would, indeed, be sleeping at home tonight and we would have to keep our hands off each other until she left.

"You're awake," Dimitri stated simply. I decided right then that I always wanted to wake up like this.

"Yeah," I sighed. I lay still for a moment, letting Dimitri hold me before I sat up. He let me go without a fight and I must admit, I was a little disappointed. He only grinned at me. I looked him up and down. "When did you get up?" I complained, stretching. He watched me attentively then smiled again.

"Earlier," he replied.

"Earlier," I scoffed, crawling out of the bed. Dimitri followed me through his dining room and hallway then into the kitchen. There were the preparations of a huge breakfast and my stomach growled. Dimitri laughed.

"What do you want?" he asked.

"Um..." I looked at all the food with wide eyes. I looked back at him. "Whatever. It all looks good."

I looked back at the food wistfully. "Alright."

"Morning Rose!" Nada called cheerfully. I turned around to see the brunette sitting at the counter. I couldn't believe I'd missed her before.

"Hey," I replied. I paused for a moment, knowing there was something I should be doing. "Bathroom." I muttered. I started off through the hallway again, easily remembering the way to my toiletries.

By the time I'd finished in the bathroom the tantalizing smell of bacon was making my mouth water. I ran back into the kitchen as fast as I could, craving nothing more than bacon. I was pleasantly surprised when I got there to see more than just bacon. There was egg, sausage, French toast, various cereals and every other breakfast food you could imagine.

It was lucky I had such a huge appetite. Nada was already chowing down on the available food and Dimitri was sitting beside her, waiting for me. I practically launched myself at the table and started scarfing it down with Nada.

Eventually, I was completely stuffed. As much as I knew I would regret letting food go to waste, I couldn't eat the last piece of bacon that sat on the plate. Nada, however, had a bigger appetite than even me. Dimitri had already finished and he was happily leaning back in his seat, watching Nada practically inhale the food on the table.

"I'm hungry," she defended, glaring at her brother when he raised an eyebrow at her antics. I giggled and stood, picking up my plate. I silently thanked God that Dimitri didn't tell me to put it down. It always got awkward when you tried to clean up and someone else was adamantly saying you weren't allowed to.

Instead, Dimitri joined me in the kitchen, carrying several plates that had previously sported food. Some of them still did. Obviously Nada couldn't eat _all_ of it. He smiled at me and joined me, leaning against the bench in silence.

"I'm done," Nada announced as she sauntered into the kitchen. I honestly had to wonder what this girl did all day if she really needed that much food.

"Well done," Dimitri said dryly. Nada made a face at him but didn't comment.

"So," I said, jumping up on the bench like I had two days ago. "What are we doing today?"

I felt kind of bad, knowing I'd let Lissa stay under house arrest. Technically my mother had no control over her but Janine Hathaway was intimidating. Lissa wouldn't say no to her. She wouldn't even suggest something she thought might be against my mother's will. But plans had to be made and life had to go on. I only had a little while before my mom would find me and hunt me down.

"We could go shopping!" Nada squealed, dropping her plate in the sink.

I was quite enthusiastic about the idea but one look at Dimitri told me he didn't want to go shopping. Actually, one look at Dimitri and I decided I wanted _Nada_ to go shopping and we could do something more fun. I didn't really care what it was.

As I was running through all the things I'd like to do today, there was an even, calm knocking on the door. I felt a kind of dread. I really hoped Lissa hadn't surrendered Dimitri's phone number. All you needed was an address book to find this place and I really didn't want her showing up.

Dimitri's expression was still light when he left the room. I exchanged a look with Nada. She probably didn't know why I was so wide-eyed but I got the message across. _Save me_.

Nada could be damn fast when she wanted to be. I heard stifled conversation through the few walls that were between me and the entry hall and Nada was already grabbing my hand and making a mad dash for the hallway. When I saw the large, three door cupboard standing there I couldn't believe I hadn't noticed it before. Nada opened a section and, giggling excitedly, she pushed me inside. It was a roomy cupboard and I couldn't really say that it was uncomfortable. Until Nada hopped in with me.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Hiding." No duh.

"You couldn't find two hiding spots, could you?" I asked, half smiling in spite of myself.

"Too much effort. You think I'd want to go through that entire process?" She giggled suddenly.

"What?"

"This is so much fun," she whispered.

I giggled too. It was. It was like the scarier version of hide and seek.

"You think it was your mother?" she asked after a quiet moment.

"Yeah."

"What if it's not?"

"Then this is an embarrassing instance we shall never speak of again."

"Rose?" The incredulous voice of my mother came with the sudden light from the hallway.

"Shit."

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As I left Dimitri's place I looked back at the door where he was standing and scowled. I felt as though I should be handcuffed as my mother almost duck walked me to a car.

"What were you doing?" my mom finally asked. I knew she wasn't referring to the cupboard but I replied anyway.

"Hiding from you," I said bitterly, scuffing my shoes against the sidewalk before I got into the car.

She didn't reply.

"And I left the apartment to get away from you!" I added. "Why can't you leave me alone? This is my life you know!"

I buckled my seatbelt huffily and glared at Dimitri again. Apparently he thought my mother and I could work out our differences. I thought he was being optimistic.

"That's extreme," my mom replied oddly.

I scrutinised her for a moment, not really sure what kind of a tone she was using. "So is putting me under house arrest," I growled.

There was a quiet moment before she spoke again. "When's the baby due?"

I gaped for a moment. "Mom!"

"What?"

"You can't really believe that? I was drunk! Like, smashed! I couldn't walk a straight line if I had arrows, handrails and fourteen gallons of coffee!"

There was another quiet moment. We tended to have a lot of those.

"It was just a joke. I never expected you to hunt me down," I grumbled.

"You know, when I first got the call I was worried," she said quietly. I scoffed. My mother, worried? About me? Not a chance. "Then I was angry. When I decided to follow you it took me longer than expected to track you down. I'm sorry."

"For which part?" I asked scathingly.

"For not even knowing your address. Or your phone number. Or knowing who you were friends with. I'm sorry I wasn't as good a mother as I could have been. I just... I wasn't ready for you, Rose," she said, giving me her best imploring look. I was speechless. "But I must admit, I'm mostly sorry for pretending that I really _did_ believe you were pregnant."


	33. Freedom

**Wow. Last chapter. It took me a while (six months?) but it's done.**

**WARNING: Dimitri is a bit OOC. I really couldn't help it. Also it's kind of a lemon. More of a lime actually. I don't know, you judge.**

**And because I continually forget these things, this is my last (and fifth) disclaimer: I do not own VA or any of its characters. I am literally incapable of writing romance which is why I attempted to write a romance fic in the first place. I need to spread into other genres.**

**It's pretty long and I'm not going to write any author's note down the bottom because I think that would kind of ruin the last bit.**

**So, I'm saying goodbye right here. Buh-bye!**

**Chapter 33 – Freedom**

There was a heavy silence. My brain was working furiously through the past two days. It felt obvious but I couldn't quite grasp what she meant. Finally, I settled on a reaction that seemed appropriate.

"You what?!"

My mom shot me a cool look then focused back on the road. "Really, Rose. Did you think I believed you were pregnant?"

"But I – You said..."

My mom sighed in exasperation. "Rose, you called me just short of two months ago. That would make you about three months along and honestly, you don't act pregnant."

"I hope I don't look it either!" I scoffed, offended.

She sighed again but didn't touch on that subject. "I only came here to double check because I was..." she trailed off, her expression hardening. The silence fell between us again and I knew, again, it would be up to me to break it.

"You were...?" I prompted, my arms crossed as I fumed in my seat.

"Well, Rose, I was worried!" she snapped angrily. "Did you really think I wasn't? When you called me all I could think was what an idiot I was for not checking up on you. Then I decided I was coming after you because when I went to see you, you were gone! Your phone was in the trash and I didn't know how to get in touch with you! Did you even think of the consequences of your actions? I can't believe..."

She kept rambling on but I'd stopped listening. I was half dumbfounded by her admission of worry and half excited that she might possibly have my phone. I let her rant for a while longer, letting the anger seep out of me as I registered her furious voice. Of course. It's not like _my_ mother could ever admit she was worried in a nice, quiet moment. She'd never had much to do with me and any lovey-dovey feelings were bound to make it awkward.

So I just sat there and listened. I forgot that maybe it was a reason to be angry and felt content with the knowledge that, on some level, she cared enough for me to traipse across the state of Montana and South Dakota to find me.

Of course, I felt kind of like a hunted animal but at least she was bothered by my disappearance.

When we got back to the apartment building, I was smiling. It wasn't really a happy smile. In fact, it was closer to a smirk than a smile. But the intention was the same. I was a little happier with my mom. Sure, we'd never get along completely. I didn't doubt that we'd always argue more than most mothers and daughters. But at least it wouldn't be as bad. I wondered vaguely if that would change how we kept in contact.

I jumped out of the car as soon as it had come to a halt and flew up the stairs. I needed to pack her things. Yeah, I liked her a little more. But I didn't want her to hang around for much longer. I mean, I still wanted to see Dimitri and Nada and Mason and Hayley. And, admittedly, I kind of wanted to be able to hang around with Adrian as well.

When I opened the front door I was greeted by an ecstatic squeal and huge hug from a short red-headed girl. Lissa and Mason were waiting patiently behind the overenthusiastic Hayley.

"Hi," I said, waving sheepishly. I still felt a little terrible for leaving Lissa with my mother for a whole night. Lissa didn't seem to be holding a grudge however, which I was grateful for.

"Hey," Mason said coolly. He wasn't too impressed. I shot him a puzzled glance before Lissa came to pry Hayley's arms from my waist. "Have fun last night?"

My eyes widened in shock then narrowed into one of my infamous sassy glares. "Heaps," I retorted. Okay, maybe it was a bit sharp. I allowed my expression to soften but the effort elicited no reaction.

I was just about to get pissy when someone – who was thankfully _not_ Janine Hathaway – appeared at my shoulder. When I looked up at Adrian I smiled. Adrian had suddenly become my role model. Well, kind of. It was mostly because my mother was here and Adrian was the embodiment of all things freedom.

"Home again, little Rose?" he asked, taking a long drag on his cigarette. I fake gagged on the smoke. My action was usurped by the huge grin on my face.

"And I will be for a long time," I said sadly.

"Maybe not as long as you think," Lissa countered mysteriously. I looked at her curiously but she ignored my stare. "Who wants to go out for lunch?"

"I will, now that the hostage gig is over," Mason offered.

I looked between Mason and Lissa. They both knew something I didn't. I looked over my shoulder to the elevator. Even if my mom had taken the stairs, she should have been up here by now.

"She left?! That bitch!"

Lissa looked stunned at my outburst. "I thought you wanted her to leave?"

"Well, yeah. But she didn't even say goodbye!"

Adrian decided that now was the time to provoke me. "Well, you know, she would have hated it if you'd just left the apartment. Say, if you went out to lunch with friends and had sex with your next door neighbour."

I glared icily at him.

"Just saying," he defended.

I scowled heavily at the floor for a moment. "Fine. Let's go out."

* * *

Lunch came after about three hours of drifting through various shops. Then after lunch came some more drifting. Somehow, that even turned into dinner. I completely forgot about my mother and I just had fun. Lissa and I hadn't gone shopping in a while and it felt good, being out there for so long. Dimitri and Nada had arrived earlier and we had met with them outside. Thankfully, neither Adrian nor Mason voiced their displeasure at Dimitri's presence.

The guys were ever patient with our shopping antics, except for Adrian who insisted on going to a lingerie shop. We, of course, refused.

When Adrian realised we weren't going to go into a lingerie store with him, he wandered into Victoria's Secret by himself. Of course, mayhem ensued. Inevitably, it ended up being Hayley and I that had to go into the store and drag him out. It did, however, take longer than expected and when we left we both had bags. Adrian was looking mildly disappointed at the lack of a fashion parade.

"You actually bought something?" Dimitri asked me, walking behind me as I swung the Victoria's Secret bag.

"Yeah," I looked back at him and grinned.

He grabbed my wrist to stop me from walking further and put his lips at my ear. "Do I get to see?"

His proximity and his words made my heart stumble over its next few beats, but in true Rose fashion I refused to give away the effect he had on me. I smiled coyly. "Maybe later."

And that seemed to set the mood between us for the rest of the night. The others must have noticed our flirting but they didn't comment. As the night wore on it got more and more extravagant. Dimitri became increasingly brave when he touched me and kissed me. If I didn't enjoy it so much I'd say too brave. Definitely too brave for a public place.

He whispered words in my ear that made my stomach fill with anxious butterflies and every part of my body tingle. But nobody heard. Nobody commented. Well, until the bookstore.

Of course, being with Lissa meant that inevitably, we ended up surrounded by bookshelves and people with glasses. Some very enthusiastic children were sitting in corners, whispering amongst themselves about the books they were holding. I was standing behind Lissa, voicing my objections perhaps a bit too loudly.

I knew Dimitri was standing behind me because we hadn't been more than an inch apart all day. He wrapped his arms around my waist and we stood comfortably like that for several seconds.

"And anyway," I continued. "This bookstore is shifty. Look at that guy over there! I think he's looking at your –"

I was going to say I think he's looking at your boyfriends butt except Dimitri hands suddenly moved to the front of my pants. His nose skinned along my collarbone and I caught my breath. Whatever objection I had thought I had a good hold of flew out the window. He traced aimless patterns across my thighs and I stood nervously for a few seconds. He didn't do anything more and after a long moment of adjusting, I tried to recover my previous train of thought.

"So we really shouldn't be here because I'm getting bored and Adrian is in the porn and –"

"Bored?" Dimitri whispered. I refused to answer. He trailed light kisses over my exposed collarbone and neck, trying to elicit a reaction. His lips weren't my main concern right now, even though they were certainly distracting. No, my major concerns were his hands and how close they were to a sensitive area. I shook my head, more to clear it than to answer his question and I think he knew. He chuckled against my skin and I shivered.

I opened my mouth to continue ranting, but with half the heart I had possessed when I started. Dimitri didn't give me the chance to continue in any case, as his hands travelled back up my body, excruciatingly slow.

I was feeling flustered, to say the least. I felt like I was blushing crazily. But this heat felt good. It was the same heat we shared whenever we kissed lately. The same heat that caused me to get up some nights and take freezing showers.

His fingers were light against any exposed skin, barely tickling over the surface. It was teasing. I relaxed into his strong body and put my hands over his, guiding them over my form. He let me take control momentarily and I was fairly certain that this was turning him on. My body was too close to his for there to be any mistake. I pulled his hands from my stomach and moved them higher but then he stopped.

His breath on my neck was faster and I knew what he was thinking. _We need to get out of here_.

But there wasn't really a 'here'. I didn't want to know where we were or who we were with and I didn't want him to know either. I wanted to make him forget, to show him how he made me feel.

So I turned around in his arms and looked up at his brown eyes. I slipped my arms around his neck and pulled him down until I could whisper in his ear.

"Do you want me?"

He didn't answer but he didn't have to. He couldn't lie to me now, not with what I could feel. But I still wanted to hear him say it. I slid one hand down his chest and hooked two fingers in his jeans, pressing with the palm of my hand on his erection. He jumped slightly but didn't speak.

"Do you want me?"

"Why are you asking?" he questioned, amusement and desire darkening his voice. He pulled his head back to look at me, his lips quirked into a seductive half smile that made my heart jump. He didn't look like the quiet, reserved Dimitri I'd realised I loved. He looked confident, mischievous and a hundred times sexier than any other guy I'd ever met.

There was a hungry fire in his eyes that I'd seen before but it was coupled with a look of reckless abandon. He looked like he didn't care where we were. Like he didn't care who saw. He looked like he wanted me. Now.

When he kissed me I realized exactly how good things were going to get tonight. This was going to be the best night of my life. Because when he kissed me before, he always made sure I knew how he felt. He always kissed me as though I was the most important thing to him, as though he loved me. And then came the lust. But this time, it was just lust. It was the raw, animal passion that was in both of us. I already knew he loved me. I didn't need or want him to show me again. And as callous as it seems, it was a huge turn on.

He wasn't careful. If anything he was rough. Everywhere he touched me it felt like I would bruise and I loved it. He wanted me so bad. And God did I want him. His hands were under my shirt, on my over heated skin as he manoeuvred us until my back was against one of the bookshelves.

The evenly spaced ridges of the shelves and books were uncomfortable but I didn't care. Just like I was doing with his hands, I soaked up the pain with the pleasure, happily taking the contrast if it meant it would feel this fucking good.

And then it stopped.

Lissa. Lissa who was standing there sheepishly her hand poised to tap Dimitri's shoulder again. Lissa who had just ruined one of the sexiest moments of my life. Lissa, my ex-best friend.

"What?" I snapped. Dimitri was exuding a similar frustration but he didn't speak. He slid his hands out from under my shirt and took a step backwards, his eyes on the line of books just above my head.

"Sorry," Lissa said, biting her lip to keep herself from laughing.

"We didn't want to see you two going at it in a bookstore," Christian said dryly. "It would be scarring."

I glared over Lissa's head where her boyfriend stood with the rest of our group, all of them grinning insanely. I took a deep breath to try and steady my heart rate before I spoke again.

"Whatever." I wished I had been more snappy and sarcastic but I couldn't because my attention was elsewhere. I was watching Dimitri, standing perfectly still and staring intently above my head. "You okay?" I asked when Lissa moved to scold her boyfriend for the comment.

He looked down at me quickly and then back at the shelf. My whole body went into lockdown at his glance because if t didn't I imagined I would be in his arms again and no amount of shoulder tapping from Lissa would stop us.

"Yeah. Me either."

We stood in silence, not looking at each other until Nada noticed us. She rolled her eyes dramatically and sidled towards us.

"Hey, Rose," she said casually. Her voice was at a normal conversation level and only Lissa and Christian – who were closest to us – could hear. "Do you mind if I stay over at your place tonight? Lissa thinks it'll be okay."

Her inconspicuous wink to Lissa wasn't so inconspicuous but I let it pass because I had a feeling this would end well for me.

"And she won't be coming home tonight anyway," Dimitri added, his arms encircling my waist again. My heart rate picked up again and I knew it was the same for him.

Nada frowned, as though this was unexpected. "You can't stop me from coming home," she said, glaring.

Dimitri shrugged indifferently. "You can come home but Rose will be there too." As if to make sure she got the point, he dropped his head and started kissing my collarbone again. I tilted my head back and closed my eyes as he did and I vaguely heard Nada say 'ew' and ask Lissa if she could stay over for the night.

"You might have to ban her for a week," I murmured as he kissed me. As soon as I said the words he froze, his lips millimetres from my skin. I smiled.

"I hope so," he whispered in return, his voice dropping until his tone was similar to the one he had adopted earlier. But he was still in control.

I wasn't. But I didn't get the chance to exercise my lack of control because suddenly Nada was there in front of us, holding out car keys and glaring.

"I stole them earlier," she sulked. "You know I was trying to be nice and tactful. You didn't have to do that. You know I wouldn't have stuck around anyway."

Dimitri smiled against my skin then he straightened. "I know. I was just removing your meddling privileges."

Nada scowled. "Just for that, I'm not helping you two disappear."

"I don't think we need any help," Dimitri replied.

He moved around me and took my hand, leading me out of the bookstore and leaving Nada standing there huffily. I glanced back at her and Dimitri followed my gaze.

"She'll get over it," he assured me. No one else had seemed to register our sudden departure and I smiled to myself. Dimitri pulled me to one of the elevators that would take us down the five levels to the car park which I thought was rather unnecessary. The stairwell was all of ten feet away. But I understood – and couldn't refute – his decision when the elevator arrived and the three previous inhabitants left together. He pulled me inside and as soon as the doors closed, he kissed me like I was his oxygen. I kissed him back just as enthusiastically.

Then the elevator stopped and he broke the kiss as a couple with a pram got on with us. We survived the next five seconds listening to the couple coo at their baby until we reached ground level.

Dimitri knew where he had parked so I tagged along after him, our hands linked. The air was still and calm but I felt jumpy. Not nervous. Eager. I could see my apartment building from here and I wished momentarily that we could go there but then I remembered my next door neighbour and knew he wouldn't be above underhand tricks to either interrupt us or see me naked.

I tried to calm myself when we reached Dimitri's car but he didn't exactly help. He pushed me against the passenger side door, his hands either side of me, effectively caging me in. I immediately surrendered all control to him.

"Don't move," he whispered against my lips. I was about to laugh and tell him that if I wanted to move, he wouldn't be able to stop me when he gently bit my bottom lip. It was fleeting but I gasped. I started to move my hands up his arms but as quick as lightning he took hold of my wrists and forced them back to the metal frame of the car.

The metal was cold and his hands were warm and once again I found myself enjoying the contrasts Dimitri could give me.

I didn't fight his hold, I just stayed where I was as he kissed me. I knew I was being dominated like I had never been before but everything he did was just so damn sexy. I knew I was more out of control than I had ever been before but I didn't mind. He could have domination and control, so long as I got what I wanted. And right now, more than I had ever wanted it before I wanted sex.

It only took about ten seconds for Dimitri to realise that I was completely at his mercy. He pulled away from me and smiled. "We'd better go."

I recovered enough to simulate placidity. I grinned confidently and opened the door. "Alright, Comrade," I said jokingly.

I didn't hear his response as I closed the door. Dimitri crossed to the other side of the car and got in. I watched him unabashedly, taking in every movement. I planned to keep my hands to myself because I actually wanted to make it to his place before I completely threw myself at him but as he left the parking lot, the sexy, speculative look on his face made it very hard to stick to the original plan.

We didn't speak and the silence became intense as we exchanged looks and I knew he was thinking, just like I was, of what we would be doing tonight. His look became steadily more like the one he had given me in the bookstore and soon I felt as though I were going to hyperventilate. He was probably pushing the speed limit but I was hardly going to mention it right now, with that new reckless look back out and ready to play.

I prayed until I could see his home that we wouldn't be pulled over by police. As soon as Dimitri parked the car we were both out of it. He took my hand again and although it was nice it was _definitely_ not enough.

I could tell he felt the same way when he pulled me through the front door and slammed it, pushing me against it and covering me in eager kisses. He didn't kiss me too deeply yet even though I could feel his desperation as well as I could feel my own. He didn't want to start this here. Probably because we wouldn't be able to get more than four feet in any direction before we were completely naked.

So he never kissed my lips as much as wanted him to as he pulled me deeper into the house. With every step we took we resumed more of the violent pleasure we had started in the bookstore, his hands roughly searching my body. As we moved he met my eyes and he smiled, the same seductive half smile that made my heart do back flips. I touched his lips with my own and I knew immediately that I'd triggered something. Because then we were in his room and he literally threw me down onto the bed and crawled on top of me, moving up my body and touching me like he'd never touched me before.

So this was Dimitri without any control. I wrapped one leg around his waist almost lazily and arched upwards until our lower bodies were pressed together completely. It was his turn to gasp. In that moment of weakness I pushed on his shoulder, moving him off me and onto the bed. I knew if I hesitated he'd have me back underneath him and although that wasn't exactly a bad thing, it wasn't what I wanted just now.

I'd been at his mercy earlier and I needed to prove to myself that I could be in control when it came to him. I knew even as I straddled him that if he wished, he could get me off, but something in his expression told me he didn't want me off.

I leaned forward, letting my hair fall like a curtain around us and whispered in his ear. "Don't move."

He didn't. We'd been in this position only once before and I vividly remembered how that had felt. I kissed him too slowly for either of us to like and immediately one of his hands had moved to me hair while the other rested at the small of my back. I broke the kiss immediately but it didn't seem to bother Dimitri. He just kissed along my jaw line until he sensed my sulkiness. He sighed.

"Sorry," he whispered.

"Sure," I answered curtly. I was snappier than I intended only because I was so mad at myself for not being mad at him. Well, more specifically because I wanted him so much that I didn't acre that he'd taken control.

"I'll be good," he promised, his voice still dark.

I couldn't help my slow smile as I turned back to face him. "What if I want you to be bad?"

"Whatever you want," he replied, eyes dancing. He was only inches away from me.

I moved slowly again, wrapping my arms around his waist and moving my hips just enough to make him suffer. He watched me with rapidly increasing lust as I brushed the hair away from my face. I knew I'd missed a strand that was hanging in my eyes but I wanted to see if he'd really do whatever I wanted.

He watched me still, not letting himself move an inch. I pushed him back down on the bed and kissed him again, happy with his control. Now all I had to do was make him lose it.

I moved slowly, just because I knew how crazy it would make him. Not that the idea wasn't a double edged sword. But I could hold out. I was the one in control of this and I knew not knowing when things would pick up again was going to push him.

I did everything I could to drive him crazy without being cruel and it was kind of working. I let him move, so long as he didn't try to take control _at all_. But eventually I had to concede to the meaner tricks. I moved down his body, desperately wanting to move faster but knowing I couldn't without fear of showing him exactly how close_ I_ was to losing it. I grinned slyly when I had an idea. Dimitri was now staring stony-faced at the ceiling because of my dangerous position of straddling his waist. But he still heard me whisper.

"Do you want me?"

His mouth tightened and he didn't look at me. I smiled again. I had been moving slow and soft this whole time and I had planned on keeping the same pace but then I saw his hands, clutching the sheet so tightly that his knuckles were going white. I moved my lower body with his in the most intimate way, to sharp and to rough for him to ignore. He swore in Russian and then I'd won.

I was sitting on the bed with Dimitri in front of me and before I had the chance to register the change he was pulling my shirt over my head. His mouth was on mine as soon as my shirt was off, hungry and eager. Everything was turning violent again and I could feel my own excitement as he turned his attention to my pants. I kicked off my slip-on shoes as he slid my jeans down my legs and dropped them on the floor.

I got on my knees with him at the end of the bed and we kissed. This scene was becoming increasingly familiar and I felt as though we'd be interrupted at any moment by somebody walking through the door or the phone ringing. So our clothes were in a pile at the end of the bed too fast to keep track of and Dimitri was forcefully pushing me back onto the bed.

His skin on mine felt better than it ever had before and I found myself gasping for air between our frenzied kisses as he explored my body with his hands and mouth.

"Stop," I finally gasped out. "Stop."

Dimitri pulled up short, watching me with dark, lust-filled eyes. "What?"

I shook my head, smiling. "I don't want to play anymore."

He regarded me for a moment and I watched as my words sank in. "Alright." He shrugged like it was no big deal and positioned himself above me. I could feel my body shuddering with excitement as was his. "You know I love you?" he said, smiling at me.

I rolled my eyes. "No shit."

"Well, I think you should return the favour," he said.

I smiled. "I love you."

"Thank you," he smiled brilliantly at me.

"But I don't want love just now," I complained, dropping my voice. "I want sex."

"Right." He watched me with amused eyes for a moment longer, letting me stew in my own frustration.

"Dimitri," I warned, ready to take control.

"Rose," he mocked. "Do you want me?"

I smiled sweetly up at him. "Actually, no," I said, feigning surprise as I pushed him back. "Isn't that good, considering you weren't going to have sex with me any way."

I started to move away from him, expecting a teasing reaction. He didn't give me one. He snagged my waist and pulled me back to him, pressing me down _again_. Then he was pushing himself inside of me and I was gasping. It was more from the surprise that he had actually done that than anything else. He didn't wait for me to recover.

It was rough. As rough as I had expected. And it was better. Better than I had imagined. I was aware that I was moaning as he moved inside of me and I could hear him whispering in my ear, sometimes in Russian and sometimes in English. I know I swore on a number of occasions and I was vaguely aware that I screamed when we came together.

And then everything that was Dimitri became my point of focus as we lay there together, for once uninterrupted and free of the frustration and tension that we had always possessed when we met. And because it had been so deliriously blissful, I decided I might as well seduce him again. It wasn't difficult because he was just as eager as I was. So really, it wasn't much of a seduction. I couldn't say how many times we inadvertently ended up making love but it was at least twice.

So by the time I noticed the clock it was four a.m and we were both lying there, on the precipice of sleep.

* * *

I woke up to the sound of rain. I was lying next to Dimitri, his arm wrapped around me and in one hand he held a book. I frowned.

"You're reading?" I asked disdainfully.

"You're awake," he said softly.

"Yeah." I sat up and ran a hand through the tangle mess that had become my hair. "And you're reading."

He laughed easily but didn't put the book down. "Does that bother you?"

"Yes."'

"Why?" He laughed again, looking at me in an annoyingly affectionate way.

I frowned and tried to work it out in my own head. When I came to the conclusion I voiced it aloud. "Okay, we had sex like, four times last night and the morning after you're reading a book? Somehow that doesn't seem normal."

He smiled at me and put the book on the floor. "Okay," he said, sitting up with me. "What should I be doing?"

I paused. Anything but reading a book. Regretting the sex? That seemed normal enough. Sleeping? Even better. I came to an appropriate conclusion and I smiled wickedly. "Seducing me?" I suggested.

Dimitri leaned in, catching a strand of my hair between his fingers. "You were asleep," he breathed.

"I'm awake now," I murmured in return.

"So you are."


End file.
